I'm pretty opposed to affirmative action - It's essentially state sponsored discrimination of white people. The wrongs of state sponsored discrimination against blacks were rightfully repealed -- why now, do we have to reverse that and discriminate against white people? It's just as wrong, and just as deluded.
This is exactly what I was referring to before. It's
not just as wrong, it's an effort to address the visible setbacks that decades of legally mandated segregation and discrimination have produced. Call it misguided if you want, but I think it's fair to say that the majority of proponents of affirmative action are absolutely not racist against whites, and as you even allude to, recently heightened racial tensions suggest that racial bigotry is still a problem that society has yet to entirely wrestle with fully. To suggest that diversity programs in hiring is the actual equivalent to segregated schools or the poll tax is absurd.