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the cities. Liberals, by contrast, stress government initiatives to improve the public schools,
arguing that school choice would benefit only a small minority of inner-city children.
Another set of critical voices has recently entered the discussion, consisting of prominent
African Americans with generally liberal identifications who have become disturbed by the
influence of popular culture on young blacks. Bill Cosby, the television personality, and
Juan Williams, a prominent columnist and commentator, have been sharply critical of
violent and misogynistic lyrics in hip-hop music, and of an inner-city youth culture that
belittles the work ethic and success in school. They have also criticized African American
political leaders for failing to speak out on the corrosive effects of current cultural trends.
The emergence of genuine intellectual diversity among those who will be shaping the
debate over future strategies for achieving racial equality is something positive in itself. It
offers hope that new methods for reducing poverty and inequality can be found, just as
previous ideas that challenged the status quo once helped uproot the foundations of
racism, legal discrimination, and second-class citizenship.
1 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Public Law 88-352, 88th Cong., 2nd sess. (July
1964), http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/laws/majorlaw/civilr19.h
2 Voting Rights Act of 1965, U.S. Code 42, § 1973–1973aa-6, amended in 1970, 1975,
1982, 2006.
3 Civil Rights Act of 1968, title VIII (Fair Housing Act), U.S. Code 42, §§ 3601 et
seq., http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/title8.htm.
4 Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement Act, Public Law 103-322, title XXVIII, § 280003,
103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (September 1994).
5 U.S. Senate, “Section II: Pre-Existing Law and the Need for Expanded Jurisdiction,” Senate
Report 107-147: The Local Law Enforcement, 107th Cong., 2nd sess. (May
2002), http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/cpquery/1?&sid=TSOPl079w&hd_count=500&xform_type=0
&maxdocs=500&variant=y&r_t=h&r_t=s&r_t=jc&
refer=&r_n=sr147.107&db_id=107&item=1&&w_
p=pre+existing+law+and+the+need+for+expanded+jurisdiction&attr=0&sel=TOC_6479&
.
6 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hate Crime Statistics 2004 (Washington, D.C.:
November 2005), http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2004/tables/HateCrime2004.pdf.
7 Shaila Dewan, “Ex-Klan Figure in 1964 Killings Is Freed on Bond,” New York Times,
August 13, 2005.
8 Scott Marshall, “North Carolina Confronts Shameful History,” People’s Weekly
World (National Edition), March 18, 2006.
9 Ibid.; Toonari, “Rosewood,” AfricaOnline, http://www.africanaonline.com/rosewood.htm.
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