Reflections on Affirmative Action

In my opinion, in spite of some gains, the affirmative action ladder is not ready to be pulled up. For too long, blacks were forced to live in a bland, hopeless existence, passing on from one generation to another a damaged spirit. Blacks that have been able to merge and blend in with the times, through education and exposure, serve as role models; however, when they look at some of their family members, even they can see that the damage done from slavery, segregation and oppression have a lasting effect. That damage seen in many disenfranchised blacks in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina will not magically go away in this generation or the succeeding ones.