25 years of affirmative action.

Webster's New World Dictionary defines affirmative action as "a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment or education of members of certain groups, as women, blacks, etc."

If only it were that simple.

On the one hand, affirmative action was one of the major vehicles that allowed the first significant wave of African-Americans to enter corporate America in the 1970s. Indeed, many of the nation's most powerful black executives today got their chance to excel because of affirmative-action initiatives in higher education and in industry.

On the other hand, it can easily be argued that African-Americans have been far from the chief beneficiaries of affirmative-action policies. In fact, women, the disabled and other disadvantaged groups also have been at least as successful as African-Americans. Nonblack minorities, too, have built upon early affirmative-action rulings to create access to opportunity.

Also, benefits to blacks have been minimized because neither government nor private industry has ever fully embraced affirmative action. In fact, many people are dedicated to the policy's destruction. Much progress was made in this regard during the "Reagan revolution." Now with the GOP in firm control of Congress and most of the 50 states, and civil rights groups such as the NAACP weakened, if not under siege, attacks on affirmative action are sure to intensify.

A sign of these times now sits on the Supreme Court. The late Thurgood Marshall's victories as a civil rights attorney laid the groundwork for the creation of affirmative action. But he has been replaced as the only African-American on the court by Clarence Thomas. Thomas, who is one of the nation's most prominent black beneficiaries of affirmative action, is a sworn ideological enemy of the policy. This irony is all the more compelling because the Supreme Court is where the most important battles over affirmative action have taken place over the last 25 years.

Current corporate diversity initiatives, designed to get employees and managers to "appreciate" differences, can only complement affirmative action, not replace it. Affirmative action facilitates the hiring and promotion of blacks and other ethnic minorities. In fact, the policy remains a hot issue precisely because racism still affects college admissions, hiring and advancement decisions and contract awards.

For these reasons, BLACK ENTERPRISE will continue its 25-year tradition of covering affirmative-action issues. No, affirmative action cannot solve all problems of African-Americans nor can it eliminate the effects of racism in American business. But it does provide a very important requirement of equal opportunity: access.