> I think a better system would be to improve educational processes...

Yes. But:

> ...if an applicant is the best qualified, he or she can NOT be turned down on the basis of race.

No. (Well, in the case of public organizations and government, ok.)

Yes, I am a controversial extremist on this matter. I do think turning down job applicants on the basis of race is reprehensible, but I also think depriving someone of the right to hire whomever they wish for whatever reason they wish is worse. You point out one of the reasons for this yourself. Anything that infringes on that right even slightly is subject to abuse. So you can't not hire someone on the basis of race. What happens when someone sues because he feels he was discriminated against? How on earth can any court of law determine what an employer's reasons are?

And who's to say "most competent for the job" should be the deciding factor anyway? What if this is just a two-man outfit, and the one owner and proprietor is looking for someone to be his right-hand man, in charge of keeping the place going and doing the finances and stuff. Trustworthiness and compatibility of character could be MORE important than competence for the job, assuming the applicants all meet at least some minimum level of competency. What right does any court of law have to meddle in this man's privately built business, something he created himself, owns completely, and is his pride and joy, to say that he can't hire someone based PURELY on the whims of his intuition? Whoever he has a gut feeling of comfort, trust, and chemistry with -- whoever he suspects he can work well with, regardless of the reason. He should be able to hire from his own family if he wants to, even if they're all losers. Hey, if it wasn't for this guy's own work in building up the business, *nobody* would have a job working for him, so instead of trying to install dentures in the gift horse, let the government and the job market be thankful he provided the horse at all.

Racism nauseates me. But as with a number of different problems society has, trying to legislate against it makes things worse, not better. Small concessions are smaller steps, but still steps in the wrong direction.

Education works much, much better.