Quotas? What do they mean to you?

Years ago in a typical government response of legislate don't educate laws were passed stating how many or what percentage of minorities vs. whites must be hired or promoted based on figures put together by statisticians. All in all a noble idea, yet when something is legislated it becomes a law and laws don't always achieve the spirit that was the thought behind them. I believe the spirit of this law was to level the playing field for jobs. Did it? Were all the minorities at the time of the passing of the law truly qualified for the positions they received based on this law? Or were people hired or promoted well above their capabilities just to satisfy the quota? If they weren't qualified doesn't that give credence to the statements that were made then and now which is 'you only got the job/promotion because of your race not because of your ability.' Is the hiring/promoting of unqualified candidates continuing now, just to satisfy quotas?

Have quotas actually done more damage than good? Have quotas become an excuse not to do ones best? Has the attitude of I'm getting the job because of the quota I don't need to study become the norm?

Do people look at minorities and say 'the only reason they have that position is their race.'? Is it because of the quota system this thinking exists? Is this true equality which what was the spirit law was looking for? Or is it only legislated equality which is only kept in place by law and not human nature and could disappear in the change of a law?

The quota system the way it is used now is actually insulting, because it presupposes that minorities cannot qualify on their own since if no minority candidate scores high enough to get the position they are required by law to be given it anyway. When in fact all it should do is insure the fairness if the testing for the position and insure no one is not allowed to take the test based solely on race.

Would we be better off doing away with quotas and letting human nature take its course? It may take another generation or 2 but then it would be real equality not legislated equality.