RACE:
We Shall Overcome—by Merit*

By Shelby Steele

The trouble with affirmative action is that it assumes that membership in a minority group is a handicap in itself. Hoover fellow Shelby Steele argues that the best way to level the playing field is to insist on the same rules for everyone.

*This article is available only in the print edition of the Hoover Digest. Click here to request a free issue.

Shelby Steele is the Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. He was appointed a Hoover fellow in 1994.