If people in a particular group are less successful than others it is because of one of two factors. Either they are failing on merit, or they are being irrationally discriminated against by others.

• If they are failing on merit, then an affirmative action policy is inefficient, and (by most people's use of the word) unfair.
• If they are failing because of irrational discrimination, then (in a competitive environment) those discriminating against them are both losing opportunities, and creating opportunities for others. If other employers refuse to employ perfectly good applicants because they belong to group X (even though they may be better than the others), then that makes it easier for me to employ better people, and win business.

Some people claim that in practice this does not work - because no-one in turn will deal with me because I employed these people. In a small town of 2000 people this may be the case. In a large city it is not. In fact in a large population it is perfectly feasible for people of one group to only deal with themselves. While they may miss out on some of the benefits of globalization they can still do very well for themselves. Particularly as over time others will notice the success and are likely to start trading with them.

See

• Political Correctness