I’ve never been involved with hiring and have only ever worked at companies small enough to fly under the radar when it comes to regulating things like that, so I have zero experience in seeing how it would have actually worked. But there are two narratives I often heard about it:

1. Companies were forced to meet “quotas”. For example black people have to make up some percent of their workforce, meaning they would have to prioritize black candidates if they were actively hiring but under the quota

2. Even if a company met the quota, if they were considering two candidates that were equal in qualifications and one was white and the other not, the non-white candidate would get the job because being non-white give them… like extra “points” or something? I guess to give them a “buffer” so if next time they’re hiring, they can hire a white person?

I have a strong feeling both are myths, and the reality of it was more vague and loosely enforced, especially since I never heard anything about what the punishment would be for not following these rules. A fine? Prison time for leadership? Complete shutdown of the business? Who knows. I am interested in hearing how it actually worked from anyone who has firsthand experience with affirmative action.

Been doing more reading on it, and found that quotas used to be a thing, but were struck down by the supreme court in 1978. I can’t find anything that says the quota system UC Davis used was forced on them by the government.