African Americans and the Public Agenda: The Paradoxes of Public Policy

Who truly represents African Americans in the American political process? If white racism is declining, why does there seem to be increased white resistance to programs that seek to redress inequality? And, why do so many programs that were intended to amend inequality seem to exacerbate it? For the most part, policies important to the African American community continue to reflect the political moods of whites. And with conservative policy initiatives being in vogue, such policies often have had little to do with the needs or preferences of Black citizens, and in many cases have done more harm than good. This "Presidential Collection" of policy-oriented chapters features contributions from Rev. Jesse Jackson, Prof. William Julius Wilson, Dr. Cedric Herring, and other leading African American thinkers and policy analysts. It sheds light on the apparent paradoxes surrounding issues such as affirmative action, Afrocentric education, crime and unequal punishment, and work and welfare reform. This book contributes to our understanding of public policy with implications for racial inequality by providing new insights, fresh policy perspectives, and original evidence concerning some of the most pressing policy issues confronting this nation as it enters the 21st Century.