The Harlem Educational Activities Fund demonstrates regularly that poor, fatherless black kids on public relief can graduate from high school and enter Yale, Bryn Mawr, Cornell and other prestigious schools. HEAF does this while equipping these students not to scrape by, but to trounce suburban white kids in chess and other activities. If HEAF can work its magic with the support of philanthropists like New York's Joanna and Daniel Rose, its example can be implemented anywhere. Entrepreneurship is vital to the black community. Eliminating foolish regulations that stymie black businesses should be a priority for Congress, the Bush administration and governors and mayors across America.
Capital formation is vital as well.
President Bush should promote his Social Security plan as a way for black families to begin estate planning, capital formation, and the sorts of financial activities that white folks take for granted. Bush's idea for personal retirement accounts will help black Americans gain the economic independence that is becoming a reality for so much of the rest of the country. Allowing intellectual diversity within black America will go far to bring us fully into this wonderful country's mainstream.