“From his position of earned eminence among commentators on today’s intersection of culture and politics, Jason L. Riley dissects the false promises and actual damages of race-based policies. His book validates Chief Justice John Roberts’s acerbic words: ‘It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.’”—George F. Will, syndicated columnist
NEW YORK, NY – After the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the use of race in college admissions was unconstitutional, many predicted that the black middle class was doomed. One byproduct of a half century of affirmative action is that it has given people the false impression that blacks can’t advance without special treatment. In The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don’t Need Racial Preference to Succeed (Basic Books; May 6, 2025), Wall Street Journal columnist and Manhattan Institute senior fellow Jason L. Riley details the neglected history of black achievement without government intervention.
Using empirical data, Riley shows how black families lifted themselves out of poverty prior to the racial preference policies of the 1960s and 1970s. Between 1940 and 1960, for example, the black poverty rate fell by nearly half, from 87% to 47%. That drop predated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society welfare state expansions, and racial preferences. Indeed, black wages, homeownership, and educational attainment were all trending upward in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, and racial disparities were narrowing. Rising rates of crime, unemployment, family disintegration, and welfare dependency among blacks coincide with the post-1960s era of affirmative action, which also tainted black achievement with suspicions of unfair advantage.
Countering those who blame white supremacy and systemic racism for today’s racial gaps—and who insist that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are necessary to sustain the black middle class—Riley offers a more optimistic story of black success without racial favoritism. The Affirmative Action Myth argues that equal treatment—not special treatment—is the key to real black progress. The better way forward is to focus on merit-based policies and universal standards of fairness that transcend race.
About the Author: Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several previous books, including Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell.
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