Before going on my music video binge that night, I spent a couple hours curled up with Mary Renault and a bottle of Sobe; simultaneously, one of Roommate #2's friends paid a visit.

The friend, who, for brevity's sake, I will call Shari, casually informed Roommate #2, "Tamie said something good today."

Tamie, for the record, is a lass I've known since high school. We've never moved in the same circles, but she's not a bad sort. Smart, too (she was accepted to Harvard), and also renowned for spouting vehemently opinionated speeches (usually about the rights of her "people") off the top of her head.

So. Roommate #2 replied to that with a nod and a solemn, "Tamie says a lot of good things."

And Shari went on to relate how Tamie, during a discussion on affirmative action, had pulled a speech out of the air. I wasn't a part of the conversation, so it wouldn't have been fit for me to blurt out my own opinions just then. Now that I can, here goes.

No. That is not true. Yes, Tamie, some of us snooty white people may see affirmative action as reverse racism. But some of us might believe that reverse racism is an idiotic term--that racism is racism, whoever it is that's being discriminated against.

Yes, some other whites might condemn affirmative action because they never owned slaves; however, I don't agree that, though you were never a slave, you should be compensated because your ancestors were, nor that whites should have to provide retribution because their ancestors owned slaves.

Incidentally, not all white people did own slaves. And, believe it or not, not all black people were slaves. If I were a callous person, which of course I am not, I might tell you to get over the past already. I know you think you should be compensated because of what you go through, because it's harder for you to get a job, because you're seen as little more than a sex object.

A note: girls of every race worry about being judged solely by their looks. Another note: as far as the middle and upper classes go, opportunities in the workplace here are a heck of a lot more equal than they are in most places.

As far as bias in the workplace goes, it's primarily sex and social status, rather than race, that comprise it. We call it a poverty ratio, see. The number of poor blacks is higher than the number of poor whites; therefore to all appearances blacks have more difficulty finding work when in reality such struggles apply to the majority of people living beneath the poverty level, regardless of ethnicity. The poor have more than enough trouble hunting out employment, what with the myriad stereotypes against them--does the term "undeserving poor" mean anything to you? Here's a thought. Maybe we should focus on giving the lower classes more opportunities, rather than on putting up with people like you who whine and preach and want more and more even though you were never that badly off.

But back to affirmative action. The standard argument holds true for a lot of people. Why should whites have to suffer? Why should they be overshadowed by so-called minorites who have easier access to better positions simply because of their ethnicity? Not to mention minority is an obsolete word.

And Tamie, if you truly do believe all whites are a certain way, why then, that sounds to me like it might connotate racism. I'm fairly sure that if I ever tried to tell you this in person, you would instantly retort, "Well, you've never been black, so how do you know what it's like?"

To which the obvious answer is, "You've never been white."

Whites want to get ahead in the world, the same as anyone else. But alas, at the rate the world's going, no one will ever be happy. One group will always be benefiting at another group's expense, and so on. So go on, keep whining; just know that there will always be another faction ready to whine right back at you. Heaven knows, they might even be right.

It's almost funny, actually. The girl tries so hard to speak up for her heritage and condemn racism that she just tears everything even further apart. I've never envied Tamie her speeches; I've envied her the ability to express them so convincingly and articulately.

After Shari finished briefing Roommate #2 on Tamie's latest outburst, the two of them emphatically agreed with everything she'd said, concluded that Tamie would be excellent at politics, and wished they could both talk like her.

Adieu.