Affirmative action policies actually hurt the very minorities they claim to support. I have heard minority students at top schools occasionally expressing self-doubt (especially when they have difficulties at school or struggle with the coursework), since a part of them secretly wonders if they were admitted because they were given a boost merely due to their ethnic background. Without affirmative action, any minority students who got into top schools would be assured that they got in based on their own merits since the playing field was even for everyone.