I will say that affirmative action was a knee jerk fell good method to attempt to remedy a real problem in the wrong way. Instead of combating racism by making it crystal clear that such actions would no longer be tolerated and providing legal recourse to victims, they created what amounts to for all real intents and purposes, a quota system.
As time passed, this system was modified to shake the stigmas that quotas by hiding them under more and more obscure language and more and more complicated weighting processes.
All to develop a "diverse" workforce, student body, whatever, then create a propaganda machine that makes you fit into a core set of values without question, ruining any chance for the true diversity they are hoping to achieve.
On the Confederate flag... I think the side that is still fighting the Civil War, and the side that thinks of it solely as a slavery symbol both need to get their heads examined and get over it. The Confederate flag, and the South, represent more than a war, and more than slavery. It represents an important part of our cultural history, and it is wrong for extremists to pervert it and try to take it away from our rich and vibrant heritage.
