Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. famously said we are a “nation of cowards” when it comes to discussing race. Jason Riley is not one of them. The Wall Street Journal editorial board member’s new book, “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed,” is a moment of clarity in a tempest of confusion over the impact of social-welfare policy on blacks, particularly in light of recent commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Mr. Riley argues convincingly that liberal initiatives intended to assist blacks have hurt them more than they have helped. Social-welfare programs of the 1960s helped wreck the black nuclear family and make socioeconomic self-independence undesirable. Minimum-wage laws priced inexperienced blacks out of jobs. Weak law enforcement endangered blacks who lived in crime-ridden neighborhoods. Affirmative action either benefited blacks who were already academically qualified or put academically unqualified blacks in rigorous schools where they struggled to succeed. Mr. Riley demonstrates that these are not empty hypothetical statements, but concrete conclusions based on experiential evidence.
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