Lumping various kinds of prejudice together fundamentally misunderstands the problem that actually exists. German and Italian immigrants overcame prejudice that far exceeds what any immigrant group faces today, and they didn’t need a framework of affirmative action and DEI initiatives to do it. Asians and Latinos are coming into a country that already lacks a dominant ethnic group as a result of past immigration, and both groups are assimilating economically and socially like prior immigrant waves.

Racism against black people is different altogether. It’s not rooted in prejudice. Instead the prejudice arises from the unique circumstances of ADOS people being brought here in slavery and then society trying to unwind that and make up for it. That racism, which is accompanied by economic and social gaps that aren’t narrowing, much less closing, is a completely different phenomenon than the ordinary prejudice which exists between pretty much every group everywhere.

Failure to understand that fundamental difference is one reason why the prospect of cabining affirmative action to logical and legitimate ends is unlikely.