I hear this often enough at Uni.<p>What bugs me about this is that the people who would have benefit from these policies, such as my ancestors, are long dead and gone. The people who oppressed them are also dead.<p>While I can buy your argument for poor people in general, I can&#x27;t understand applying a non-meritocratic basis on the basis of gender or race. A rich minority boy or white girl has access to a great deal of resources more than a poor backwoods white boy.<p>And the sort of symbolic victory style stuff that goes on in both academic circles and in magazines just doesn&#x27;t help us at all.<p>I would have given anything for there to be resources about how to dress well in western clothing, find and eat healthy religiously-acceptable food, and understand the intricacies of western culture. But instead I got a self-congratulatory lecture on embracing our native culture. What good is that at all?