But I don't think it plays as big a role in these issues as you imply. There are economic pressures here that trump the "isms". A woman executive may have incentives to keep women's salaries artificially low, simply because she can, and a black executive may feel he can keep costs down by paying his black employees less. They may not even realize they are doing it, they just know that market conditions allow them to fill their staffing requirements for less money by hiring from certain groups, and that at certain salary levels certain groups are more likely to apply for certain jobs. It isn't necessarily a conspiracy of racists in the boardroom.

I really do believe deliberate, institutionalized racism and sexism are on the way out, it is mainly a social problem peculiar to limited economic and social groups, and minority issues are something this country can genuinely feel proud of. But there are still unforeseen consequences and lingering results.