The major issues for African Americans today, such as poverty, low graduation rates, high rates of out-of-wedlock births, and high rates of incarceration, are of national importance. This volume provides a solid foundation on the basis of which high school, community college, and college students can understand and debate nine of today's crucial issues in the context of the past and the present. These issues are slavery reparations, crime and punishment, cultural assimilation, Affirmative Action, school vouchers, standardized tests, Welfare-to-Work, stereotypes, and election reform.