national amnesia............

 

It’s difficult to think of a more divisive way of addressing sensitive personnel issues, but many power bases in America had been infected with the idea that discrimination on behalf of some racial and ethnic groups was not only permissible, but commendable. A common message on campuses was that discrimination against whites, and particularly white males, was necessary to eliminate imbalances.

These beliefs, which would never have been accepted by the nation which embraced the “no one should be subjected to racial discrimination” message of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, amazingly caught hold. It was as if there was national amnesia. They were soon joined by programs that were less focused on behavior – a clear and measurable standard – than on the far more intangible and elusive issue of feelings.

-Michael Wade, from here