It seems to me that we have reached a crossroads in determining the future of race relations in this country. We have now experimented with race based social policies for 50 years without an appreciable reduction of the economic gap between white and black Americans. Despite the election of our first black President, these groups are more divided than ever. Is this a path we want to permanently follow?
Affirmative Action (i.e., racial preferences/protections) has never had a sound constitutional basis, being upheld primarily as a "temporary" aberration from the principle of equal protection under the law. Rather than providing a remedy for past injustices, these policies have helped create a dysfunctional subculture within the black community whose pathologies now exceed any external obstacles that may remain.
Perhaps it is time to inject a little reality into our social policies. Drugs, crime, dropping out of school and teenage pregnancies are recipes for failure, regardless of race. The fact that these are relatively much more prevalent in the black community suggests that the "special treatment" afforded black Americans during the past 50 years has been anything but helpful.
Learning the lessons of life may be easier for some than for others, but they must be learned if one is to fully participate in our society.
Affirmative Action (i.e., racial preferences/protections) has never had a sound constitutional basis, being upheld primarily as a "temporary" aberration from the principle of equal protection under the law. Rather than providing a remedy for past injustices, these policies have helped create a dysfunctional subculture within the black community whose pathologies now exceed any external obstacles that may remain.
Perhaps it is time to inject a little reality into our social policies. Drugs, crime, dropping out of school and teenage pregnancies are recipes for failure, regardless of race. The fact that these are relatively much more prevalent in the black community suggests that the "special treatment" afforded black Americans during the past 50 years has been anything but helpful.
Learning the lessons of life may be easier for some than for others, but they must be learned if one is to fully participate in our society.