SO WITH ALL THE TALK ABOUT ELIZABETH WARREN AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, a story from nearly 20 years ago. When the Clinton folks were still new in office and filling slots, a friend in the government got a call about me. It went something like this:

“You know Glenn Reynolds, right? Do you think this guy would be interested in a position at NASA or State?”

“I dunno. He just got tenure. I don’t think he’d be interested in anything, especially now that the Space Council has been abolished.”

“That’s too bad. You don’t see a lot of African-Americans with these kinds of credentials in the space area.”

“African-Americans?”

“Well, his resume says he’s the advisor to the Black Law Students Association and coach of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Team. . . .”

“Yeah, but he’s not black, trust me.”

“Oh.”

I never got a call. . . . When my friend Jim Thompson left UT, I took over as BLSA advisor for two years. And I coached the Frederick Douglass team because, well, somebody had to, and I was there. It wasn’t an absurd error on their part to look at my resume and make that assumption, but it was an error nonetheless.