Key issues surrounding race and public policy in North America are examined in this book. For example, who truly represents African Americans in the American political process? Why does there seem to be increased white resistance to programmes that seek to redress equality if white racism appears to be declining? And why do so many programmes which are intended to tackle inequality seem instead to exacerbate it? The contributors to this perceptive and timely volume shed light on these apparent paradoxes.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Preface - William Julius Wilson African Americans, the Public Agenda, and the Paradoxes of Public Policy - Cedric Herring

A Focus on the Controversies Surrounding Affirmative Action PART TWO: CHALLENGES TO LEADERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY Cross-Cutting Black Issues Affecting the Changing Role of Government - Yvonne Scruggs Political Consolidation or American Apartheid? Some Political and Economic Consequences of Black Empowerment - Michael I J Bennett, Cedric Herring, and Douglas Gills Balanced Opportunity - Jesse L Jackson PART THREE: RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH Policy Context and the Relationship between Maternal Drug Abuse and Infant Mortality - Rae Banks and Assata Zerai The Psychosocial Dimension of Black Maternal Health - Katrina Bell McDonald

An Intersection of Race, Gender, and Class PART FOUR: RACIAL INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL POLICY Race Up the Corporate Ladder - Sharon Collins

The Dilemmas and Contradictions of First Wave Black Executives PART FIVE: CHANGES IN IDEOLOGY AND CULTURAL MYTHS Affirm Equality
Oppose Racist Scapegoating - Steven Rosenthal

Myths and Realities of Affirmative Action Conservative Religious and Ideological Thought - Charles Jarmon

Sources and Consequences for Public Policy for the Poor African American Families and Public Policy - Juan Battle and Michael Bennett

The Legacy of the Moynihan Report PART SIX: RACE AND EDUCATIONAL SEGREGATION Race Relations and Campus Climate for Minority Students - Gail Thomas

Implications for Higher Education Desegregation Afrocentric Schools - Kerry Rockquemore

The Effects of Black Male Academics on Academic Achievement PART SEVEN: CRIME, UNEQUAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND PUNISHMENT Race, Representation, and the Drug Policy Agenda - Rae Banks Race, Gender, and the Timing of Justice - Verna Keith and Garry L Rolison

Age at First Arrest and First Incarceration for African American Women Which Way Toward Equality? Dilemmas and Paradoxes in Public Policies Affecting Crime and Punishment - Darnell F Hawkins