Against our best interests: An ambivalent view of affirmative action.

AFFIRMATIVE action programs; EMPLOYMENT of minorities; LIBRARIES & Black people; LIBRARIES & minorities; ACADEMIC libraries

Argues that affirmative action policies have a negative effect on blacks and on society as a whole. Historical brief on affirmative action in the U.S.; Legislating fairness; Affirmative action discussion at the Oregon and Washington chapters of the Association of College and Research Libraries; The importance of affirmative action achievements; Views of historian Shelby Steele, the author of "The Content of Our Character"; Equal opportunity laws; Author's experience with affirmative action at the library of a small college in Washington State; Opinion that affirmative action has led to people who are underqualified being hired; Call for affirmative action to return to its original purpose of monitoring inequalities and discriminatory practices that still exist.