was a phrase I first heard in reference to reforms in post-apartheid South Africa, but it's one that applies to affirmative action. O'Connor's majority opinion said something to the effect of needing a diverse group of people at the top to maintain stability in this country. Affirmative action is not about remedying years of discrimination. It's not even, as poor, mad Clarence Thomas would have it, a matter of white people taking pity on black. It's a matter of skimming the top off the Hispanics and the African-Americans so that, when the shit hits the fan, we don't look up, see all-white faces running shit, and go loco in this bitch -- and if we do, our top guys are on the other side. At least that's one way of looking at it, and not necessarily the one I ascribe to.