Well, I agree, if the persons fighting for such minimalist protections end their analysis there, without linking the fight for affirmative action to the fight for broader social change. To the extent many proponents of affirmative action fail to make those connections, they're not real allies. However, to the extent we make the connections between the need for affirmative action, and full employment, and education as a right rather than a commodity, and workplace democracy, and ending poverty, then I think the fight for affirmative action can be empowering, and actually help demonstrate the overall sickness of the system. They don't have the time. But, and this is a significant but, the only way this is true, is if the analysis is being provided can guarantee the proper focus.
Reform can operate as anesthesia or adrenaline, depending on who controls the terms of the debate.