If affirmative action was designed as a form of redress for historical and contemporary racism, the evidence for its ongoing demand is unfortunately all around us.

I disagree with this statement vehemently. When I look at the world around me I would say: If affirmative action was designed as a form of redress for historical and contemporary racism, the evidence for its massive failure is unfortunately all around us. We have had 50 years of affirmative action, and poverty among minorities is increasing recently. I think some new solution should be implemented. We need some proactive solutions to poverty among all people, but I think empirically, affirmative action doesn't seem to be a good solution. The fact that blacks and Latinos have high rates of poverty is coincidence; the two have very different root causes. Latinos are poor, because they are immigrants from poor countries. Blacks are poor, because they were slaves and then had to face 100 years of laws that ensured they stayed poor and uneducated. I'm not sure why the two get talked about as if they are a monolithic group ("people of color"). Call me a racist, but I don't see why anyone who isn't a descendant of slaves (or, say, a Native American) should benefit from an affirmative action type program. But that's beside the point. The real question is why have blacks on the whole not been able to benefit from several generations of affirmative action? As someone who lives in a very poor, mostly black neighborhood, it seems to me that there is a terrible cultural problem in the inner city. There seems to be a lack of self respect among the citizens. I see it every day in everything from violence to littering. I'm not sure the government can do anything about this, but until there is a collective consciousness among the urban black community that through education and hard work you can have a better life, they will continue to struggle. Newt Gingrich was widely ridiculed for suggesting that kids be given jobs at school in the inner city, but for once I found myself agreeing with him. Self respect is a powerful force.