Merit, and merit only.
In my opinion, the many efforts to eliminate the -isms in our world have only backfired. If the goal is (and its a big IF) to achieve equality, the best way is to let people assimilate and discover that race, sex, creed, etc really have no bearing on a person's abilities or worth. But when you artificially inflate one side's abilities or worth based solely on superficial qualities, it tends to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction.
EDIT: Who would ever guess that Archie would be the only one to touch this thread?
