Back in 1947, two psychologists ran a test on black children ages thee to seven, utilizing four dolls, of various degrees of gradations of color, in which, as reported by naacpldf.org, "A majority of the children preferred the white doll and assigned positive characteristics to it." This amazing result from this study was utilized in the epic argument in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, which undoubtedly contributed to that Supreme Court seminal decision that racial segregation was in and of itself, prejudicial and damaging to those subject to that segregation.
One might think that in this more enlightened time that a white and black doll test would clearly not still show prejudice and favoritism from white and black children, taking such a test. In fact, in 2010, CNN ran such a test, with conditions in harmony with that original white and black doll test, in which, as reported by cnn.com, "white children have an overwhelming white bias, and black children also have a bias toward white."
The fact, that after the ratification of the 14th Amendment, in 1868, with additionally the landmark federally sponsored Civil Rights laws subsequently passed, which specifically were enacted to forbid racial discrimination, along with all persons that have any real sensibility already being cognizant that skin color has not ever, and cannot ever be what determines the character of a person, but rather is irrelevant to such; that children, who are far less inclined to hide their true feelings behind false fronts, are shown to have in the 21st century more positive feelings towards those that are white, in comparison to those that are not, regardless of their own race, must be seen to be: wholly disappointing.
The above is proof positive that America is still the white man's land, of which just being born white is an inborn advantage over those that are not white, irrespective of any other conditions. This thus signifies that in every enterprise of merit, be it housing, education, justice, or opportunity, that the white man is in the superior position, simply based on the salient fact that they are white. So that, the egalitarian promise that America is supposed to represent, does not exist; nor does any of its other promises of being integrated, fair and equal, or of meritorious opportunity, and so on, exist.
The bottom line is that until America is able to demonstrate through its non-biased tests, that every vestige of the superiority of the white man has been erased from the minds and thoughts of its people, of all colors, and of all backgrounds, then the white man will continue to reap the awards and the benefits that the white man has not fairly sowed. This would surely indicate that all programs, such as the Affirmative Action program, and the like, that are constructed so as to make good on promissory notes yet unfilled, must be part and parcel of the American way of being, in order to appropriately rectify not only previous wrongs, but wrongs that are integral to American life as it is still being experienced, today.
It is not ever good enough, to espouse noble thoughts and to have noble goals, if the structure within that nation, is corrupt to begin with; especially when such is further compounded when that nation never establishes thoroughly the comprehensive effort needed to properly correct those foundational faults. While one may give America credit for becoming a melting pot of so many different peoples, it still sees life far too frequently through the distorted prism of the white man, which is the very reason why the United States of America, is in reality, a country divided, and not united.