Class vs. Race?

Recently, I've watched an episode of Boston Public and listened to an interview of Henry Lewis Gates on KQED's Forum on Affirmative Action, and this got me thinking a bit.

So far, my conclusion is that the Affirmative Action program cannot last long solely based on racial criteria. Although I understand where the program came about historically, a lot of the original purpose of the program (as far as I can understand, promoting diversity) would be lost, this point in time, if it were to just continue based on the racial criteria alone.

It seems that some people (including myself) are starting to think that the program should be based on the economical criteria rather than the racial. I am not sure whether a total transition can be achieved easily, though.

One of my concerns is that, in the modern world (especially in the U.S.), the word "class" (based on economy) seems to be even more taboo than the word "race." Maybe this has to do with the knee-jerk reaction to communism (and thus socialism). It seems that people are willing to acknowledge and try to solve the racial problems, but not much so about the economical and social class issues.

Another difficulty with the class angle (especially economical) is that people are less willing to accept (and be proud of) the fact that they are in a "lower" class than that they are a racial minority.

I am not sure how this can be resolved easily. I feel the need for such "social aid" programs, but how to do it "fairly," that's quite a different matter.