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Alan Goldman has argued that blacks and women are not the kind of social group to which compensation can be owed as a whole. He makes his case in the following selection:

In fact, blacks or women do not qualify as genuine groups or social organizations in the sense in which sociologists generally use these terms. A group in this latter sense is defined in terms of actual interaction among members, each of whom occupies a certain position or plays a certain role in the group reciprocal to other roles (roles being reciprocal when their performances are mutually dependent). With regard to groups defined in this way, I believe that compensation for injury or damages can be owed to the group as a whole. But this is only because injury to one member affecting his duties as a member harms all members, and because many damages cannot be assigned to specific members, but only to the group as a whole. Both features result from the reciprocity of roles within such groups.

Reference: From "Limits to the Justification of Reverse Discrimination" by Alan Goldman, reprinted in Feminism and Philosophy edited by Mary Vetterling-Braggin, p. 228-229.