TBone, you ask:
"...does everyone on here truly and honestly believe that because you are (lets choose) black, and living in america in the 21st centruy, that you undoubtedly faced systematic oppression that absolutly took away from you opportunities you may have had that would have deffinatly given you the chance to suceed more?"
African Americans have undoubtably faced systematic oppression, and continue to face it today. This has absolutely contributed to the disparity of opportunites distributed among the African American population, and definitely means that a higher proportion of whites have a better chance to succeed (more opportunites) than the proportion of blacks with those same opportunities. This does not mean that every black person has had a lesser chance, or lesser opportunities than every white.
It is not possible for AA to rectify this situation. AA is a blunt tool aimed at mitigating the effects of this situation.
Back to your original Q, I got a highly coveted job a few years back. No one told me, but I assumed that the fact that I'm female helped. Why? Because the industry I worked in is disproportionately male, and the specific place I was hired was well known for its old boy network hiring, and, not coincidentally in my opinion, was way male. Also, in the job interview, I mentioned that the business was lacking a female face, and that the gender imbalance might discourage customers. My interviewer agreed that this was a problem.
I was well qualified. I have done a great job and gotten lots of positive reviews from clients and local media. I still deal with sexist comments from clients and co-workers from time to time (this was WAY worse in the beginning, though.) I was qualified for the job based on my own merits, but I beat out other qualified applicants, in part, I believe, because I'm female. That's a weird system, I know, and it doesn't solve sexism. But at the same time, it was such an anomaly to get a break in this industry due to being female. Usually it's a liability and I believe that I lost other opportunities due to gender in the past. So this time I got a break. In my opinion, it was about time.
Yeah, my break was someone else's door in the face. That's why I say -- life is not fair. Sometimes you get a helping hand, sometimes you get the finger. I've been on both sides, for sure. If there is a systematic pattern of one or the other, then there is a problem for society to address. Otherwise, you roll with it and move on.
I enjoy this discussion.