I while ago I finished my degree and went through a long internship at a large manufacturing company. At the end of the internship, all the interns were offered jobs, however, we would all be hired at different times in a very specific order. The manager of the program, all the supervisors, and the production manager gathered all the interns into one large room and said this:

"The first hires are going to be women, and they'll be hired next month. After that we're going to hire anyone who is non-white a couple months after that. But don't worry, you will all eventually be hired."

I graduated top of my class, had the best recommendation letters out of anyone... and some of the folks that were hired before me never finished their degree (several were only two semesters into college and dropped out after getting the job.) I don't dare say anything, because it would be political suicide in that company, but I was totally fucking shocked.

I mean... they just said it outright. There was no quiet discussion, or euphemisms, or subtlety... they just said it in front of everyone. I asked a buddy of mine what he thought and he said, "Dude... they have zero Mexicans working here... I knew I had a job as soon as I started the internship."

I was kinda upset, and even the other interns acknowledged that I worked harder than anyone else did (both in school and during the internship) but we were just happy to have job offers. I went back to the college and talked to my instructors about it (the ones who wrote my recommendation letters.) They just laughed and said, "We told you that's how it works. No one wants to believe us, and people think we're just racist or sexist, but that's how that company works. We were being honest with you from the beginning about that."

A little while later I found out the same rules apply for promotions. It's the most demoralizing thing I've ever dealt with. To be honest, I've stopped working hard, and now just keep my mouth shut and do the bare minimum. I've lost all ambition to do anything in this career. They offered to pay for school, and I turned it down. It wouldn't matter if I had a PhD, they're not going to place me anywhere else in the company -not before the "right" people have been placed first. I honestly wonder why I got a degree in the first place. I mean... they don't even hide the fact!

And someone's probably going to say it's illegal to do this. OK, maybe it is illegal. Then why hasn't anyone done anything about it? Why are they so open about it? Why aren't they afraid of lawsuits? They've obviously gotten away with it long enough to have a reputation, and they have no fear of explaining how their hiring process works. It's weird, and sad. I wish there was a company that could really use what I have to offer, and not deduct points for being a white guy.