It's not over.

In any contest, there are two classic ways the opposition may attempt to make you falter, enabling them to win the day. One is to make you believe that defeat is a foregone conclusion. By getting you to accept defeat before the contest is truly decided, you become demoralized and will often surrender, never knowing how close you were to victory. The other way is to convince you that you've already won. By accepting the appearance of victory prematurely, you become satisfied and complacent, dropping your guard only to lose everything you'd gained, and then some. Whether the opposition wants to convince you that there is nothing more to gain or nothing more to lose, the objective is the same--to get you to just stop fighting.

These twin tactics of psychological warfare are the very ones African Americans face in our continuing struggle for full economic empowerment, and specifically affirmative action as a means to that end. One the one hand, opponents of affirmative action have tried to convince us that, indeed, we have overcome our nation's legacy of racism and discrimination, pointing to African American achievement and the burgeoning black middle class as evidence that race-sensitive remedies are no longer necessary. On the other hand, opponents of affirmative action try to convince us that the fight is over and we've lost, pointing to Supreme Court decisions such as Adarand vs. Pena, as well as statewide initiatives such as California's Proposition 209, as proof.

The reality is, we've neither lost nor won. While African Americans have made tremendous progress, despite ongoing discrimination, we are not even close to having achieved equal access to opportunity and the resources required to enjoy the full measure of the American Dream. And while assaults on affirmative action during the past decade have narrowed the parameters governing its implementation, it has not been eliminated.

That's why we made the future of affirmative action the subject of our landmark Town Hall Meeting at the Black Enterprise/Bank of America Entrepreneurs Conference, held at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in May. Moderated by Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr., the panel, which included the Revs. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Al Sharpton, Radio One Inc. CEO Cathy Hughes, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO George Herrera, NAACP Legal Defense Fund Associate Director/Counsel Theodore Shaw and Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers, made one thing clear: the battle for affirmative action will be lost only if we stop fighting to protect it.

We must continue the battle in the courts, by supporting the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and other organizations dedicated to bringing legal firepower in support of our cause. We must hold, especially during this election season, our elected officials accountable for their position on affirmative action by voting for and supporting through campaign contributions those who are working to advance our agenda. We must support organizations, such as the NAACP, the National Action Network and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, that are at the forefront of the fight for equal opportunity. And we must attack the demonization of affirmative action by being truly informed on the facts and fiction of the policy.

We cannot afford to be demoralized, nor can we be complacent, in our quest for equal opportunity and economic empowerment. It's not over.