Moving Past "Affirmative Action"

In "The Continuing Struggle for Equality", Armstrong Williams notes some of the central issues facing African Americans in today's society. He concludes,

We don't need more entitlement programs that dispense money to the underprivileged like some government-subsidized tranquilizer. We need to confront the real problems threatening our communities. We will achieve Dr. King's dream not with quotas and affirmative action, but with the determination to face those social conditions that truly underlie inequality - eroding family life, disintegration of moral character and the devaluation of human life.

With all due respect for the failures of affirmative action and entitlement programs to resolve poverty and discrimination, and for the frustration inspired by the perpetuation of poverty and discrimination, I still think it would benefit us if we were told something more than "We need to throw out every tool in our toolbox, and find something new" - such as, "And here's something that might work...."

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