These laws were not in place during most peoples lifetime, yet you say I see nothing wrong with the government making and enforcing laws that help that group achieve opportunities they wouldn't ordinarily have access to
How long should we have to pay for the sins of our fathers? Where is our access to these opportunities? Why does the law favor one over another?
Actually, there are quite a few people alive today who were alive when those laws were in place. About only 3 generations ago. And yes, I say "I see nothing wrong with the government making and enforcing laws that help that group achieve opportunities they wouldn't ordinarily have access to" because most opportunities are familial - they are determined by your family history and family connections. So if one person is in the oil business, chances are likely that his children will join the oil business. So affirmative action helps those minorities enter those extremely prestigious or wealthy industries, which they ordinarily would not be able to join due to a lack of family connections.
How long should we have to pay for the sins of our fathers? Well, not too longer, most likely. Less and less race and ethnicity is becoming a factor for people. Today's young people have the highest rates of interracial marriage, after all, which is evidence that race is being less and less of an impact on people. So within a generation or two people will have better access to better opportunities regardless of race of ethnicity.
Where is our access to these opportunities? Well, granted, not everybody can have equal access to all opportunities. After all, someone from Oklahoma won't have as much opportunities to enter the film industry as someone from California or New York. However, affirmative action isn't meant to give equal access of opportunities to all people - it is meant to allow members of a racial or ethnic group that has historically been discriminated against to enter certain professions so they can pull themselves out of poverty and less rewarding professions. If all a person of a certain race or ethnicity sees of people of his own race or ethnicity is doing menial labor jobs such as landscaping or picking corn, then that's all those members will do, lowering opportunities for them in other areas, such as finance, business, or academics. Affirmative action allows those people to start entering such fields, which has the effect of inspiring other members of those races and ethnicities to attempt to join those fields and aspire to better things.
Why does the law favor one over another? Because, in the past, the law favor one over another, and those who the law favored back then are reaping benefits and rewards even now. After all, many people of wealth have achieved it through inheritances. So there have been people who have profited from the discrimination of other groups. So affirmative action allows those discriminated groups a chance to profit themselves and raise themselves out of the perpetual cycle of proverty that discrimination has caused them to enter.