The merit system (Ann Speaking)
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I'm not sure whether there is a right to be judged on the basis of merit or competence.

I would rather argue that there is a right not be judged on the basis of characteristics such as color. And one reason why discrimination against blacks was (and is) wrong is precisely because it made color the basis of hiring decisions and other decisions as well.

There is an old definition of justice that tells us that it requires judging equal cases equally. Under the regime of discrimination, people with the same relevant characteristics were judged differently because of an irrelevant characteristic; namely, color. That's unjust.

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