The fact that people are having even a discussion about this means that society has evolved pretty far. We're just at a point where we're determining at what point to stop or else we overshoot. For some people, any bit of affirmative action is unprincipled and 'reverse racism.' For others with a better sense of history and how invidious discrimination can affect minority groups for generations, it's justified.
Sam Odom, despite appearing to be a racist, at least makes a good point in that the race card shouldn't be played where other better explanations exist. However, if there is other evidence of racism that nobody here is aware of, then it's silly to form too strong of an opinion based on our limited knowledge.
I'd prefer these race threads to be out of the forum though. None of them have helped my understanding of betting on sports and it's an unnecessary distraction.