William Julius Wilson

"A lot of joblessness in the black community doesnt seem to be reachable through fiscal and monetary policies. People have not been drawn into the labor market even during periods of economic recovery. Our study clearly shows that employers would rather not hire a lot of workers from the inner city. They feel people from the inner city are not job-ready, that the kids have been poorly educated, that they cant read, they cant write, they cant speak."

"The problems we see today are going to be a hell of a lot worse in 10 years if were not willing to face up to them. These kids are just not going to be absorbed into the economy, so what are they going to be doing? Well, we know. Theyre going to be making life pretty miserable for a lot of people."

"Liberals were intimidated by the Reagan administration and did not want to appear naive by talking about programs that called for government support. I just said, The hell with that. Im out there. Im exposed with this book."

"Affirmative action has to be combined with a broader program of social reform that would emphasize social rights: the right to employment, the right to education, the right to good health. Over the years, black leaders have been slow to recognize the need for a very, very progressive agenda. Anytime someone has talked about putting America back to work, blacks should have said yes, but they didnt. They were so preoccupied with affirmative action that they didnt provide the kind of leadership that would help some of the other progressive folks. Only now are black leaders beginning to realize the impact of economic issues."