Personally I don't think color or sex matters at all. Everyone knows of some exception walking around. My bud just got hired as an FO at Republic while below the mins on multi. No resume walk in or anything like that. My flight instructor from Zimbabwe was hired to NetJets with 1000hrs SIC jet and 4000hrs total time. My other CFI was hired with 700PIC jet to Continental flying a 737 and he's white. It's just a crap shoot however people seem to think the only reason someone that isn't like them, either sex or race, was hired is because of their difference.

The great thing about aviation is that it caters to all equally. I don't care if you're white, black, brown, blue, green, male, or female you have to meet the same PTS standards as everyone else. A fed doesn't care.

Affirmative action wasn't created to "give" more jobs to women or minorities. It was designed to simply make sure they had all the same opportunities to be hired. If african americans count for 12% of the population in the US then there is no reason why an industry should not have 12% of it's workers african american unless they simply weren't qualified.