i'm beginning to face it myself. i hear the distinction you are making, and i understand what you mean about favortism. it happens quite frequently.
at my last job, i was asked to train my supposed supervisor on the accounting software the company uses. no one, except me, thought it was strange that she didn't have those skills already...a supposed requirement of the job. this woman was also fond of uses racial slurs, and loved to tell about all the "chinks" and "spics" (she never used the "n" word to me...but she came close) she had to deal with. she also gave the other black people under her supervision an extremely hard time. she held them, and me to a standard that no on else in the company had to meet...this in spite of her own utter incompetence and lack of qualifications.
additionally, this company practiced wage discrimination, based on gender and race. i did an analysis of the wages paid to all employees and found:
women were routinely paid less than men...same education, same job classifications.
the black employees were routinely paid less than the white employees. this was a university, so a lot of people had advanced degrees. i found that the black employees with MA degrees generally made less than the white employees with BA degrees...regardless of job classifications.
when i complained about her, her lack of skills, her use of racial slurs, her harassment of the black employees, and when i brought my analysis to the attention of the provost...i was fired. i didn't bother filing a complaint because they are broke, and i didn't want the job back anyway...i figure they will self-destruct within the next year. a lot more to this story, but just wanted to give a general idea.
on another temp job (i was initially hired to fill in for the accounting manager on maternity leave) i was asked to train the new accounting manager. normally, training consists of showing people the particulars of the company's system, but in this case, the woman didn't know how to use Excel...that's like a carpenter who can't use a hammer.
i made them pay me extra money to train the twit. the previous manager was a hs school graduate, yet the two employees she "supervised," both black, had BAs...both had applied for the position, both were passed over for the twit. the new manager was even less qualified (i don't even think she had an accounting background)...but she was skinny and blonde, and apparently what some would consider "cute," but dumb as a post. i heard she lasted about two months, and both black employees who got passed over for her position moved on to better things.
on another job...years ago...i was hired the same day as a another woman. she took care of the payables, and i handled the receivables and payroll. shortly after she was hired, she started missing days...at least one per week, and i was asked to take up the slack...no problem. by the end of our three-month probation period, this woman was given a larger raise than i got, even though she hardly came to work, an did little while she was there. ironically, she called in sick (again) on the day of the review 
i've had some good (and fair) job experiences, but i can recite a number of other examples of what i faced in the work world. merit is total bullshit, in my view...it's all about who you are and what priviledges you're granted because of who you are. my experience hasn't been all bad because i have a MA, and years of experience, but it's been bad enough. i now work independently. it's been a struggle because i'm just starting out, but i have given up on working for other people...just too much bullshit.
but, i have only been called a "n" a couple of times in my life, and never to my face.
Northern California Chapter
In politics nothing happens by accident. If it happened, you can bet it was planned that way.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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