I am a conservative, and I am firmly in favor of Affirmative Action. By Affirmative Action I mean

[1] Going after racial oppression -- illegal discrimination -- where ever it exists, using all the weapons at our disposal: legal and extra-legal, the same way we did in the 1960s. [I am a veteran of the Civil Rights movement in the South at that time.]

[2] Developing policies which will help disadvantaged people, of whatever color, to take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities available for personal advancement in America today. Although these policies should be color blind, they will obviously disproportionately benefit Black people.

This should include scholarships to universities, programs to supplement poor schools, programs to replace poor schools with good ones -- vouchers are the obvious answer but we can still fight for other programs where we are not yet able to get vouchers -- strong but fair policing, programs that will do away with demoralizing public housing projects and instead encourage home ownership, and so on.

This is what Affirmative Action should mean.

It should not mean racial quotas and racial preferences, which devalue the achievements of Black people.

We should not let the liberals and the Left capture the phrase "Affirmative Action", which in the eye of the public, now means "active measures against racial oppression".

Rather, we should give the phrase "Affirmative Action" its proper content -- action to break down the barriers to entry into society, which can and should be done on a color-blind basis.

Doug