ABSTRACT
People of color in the U.S. A are currently confronted by several complex issues that threaten to halt the incremental improvements they have been making in their quality of life. 1 At the national level, these issues include attacks on affirmative action, with a potentially deleterious effect on economic mobility opportunities, welfare reform, which will likely increase their levels of poverty; and anti-immigrant initiatives that characterize immigrants as criminals and welfare abusers, indeed a drain on the U.S. economy. These efforts have been introduced into the political process with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately, all of them help foster a climate in which violence, hatred, and racism can fester. Without question, many policies important to Blacks and Latinos reflect the shift toward conservatism as the dominant political mood of Whites in power. In a climate in which there is greater resistance among Whites to programs that would reduce racial inequality and less collective activism between Blacks and Latinos, it is likely that many of the proposals now on the public agenda will do more harm than good for all peoples of color.
