Clarence Thomas, according to his book (which I read years ago when he came to my hometown to speak at his alma mater) was the beneficiary of affirmative action through the Catholic Church. He’d been a seminary student down South (I can’t remember where) and Holy Cross was looking to diversify their student body, so they went looking for qualified students and found him. The impression I got from his story was that his affirmative action was the result of individuals (not the Govt.) looking to right some wrongs in the days during/after the Civil Rights movement.