100 days of Congress: let's ditch the pragmatism and go for what we really want.(TO THE POINT)

AS WE APPROACH the 100th day of Congress, I think back to the nanosecond of relief we felt after the November elections. It didn't last long. Congress quickly launched into in-house fighting, as members jockeyed for committee appointments and raced rightward in preparation for 2008. Meanwhile, communities of color still have their backs up against the wall, receiving the worst schooling, housing and health care, and continuing to be scapegoated for the nation's fears.

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Regardless of Congress's political will, the reality is that it is up to us, not others, to assert the interests of our communities as national priorities. Meeting that responsibility requires us to make more ambitious demands. After decades of taking our cues from spin-doctors and political gurus, we must admit that playing the political pragmatism game has not served us well. In the '90s, this sort of thinking got us Clinton's welfare "deform" and "mend-it-don't-end-it." As a result of that compromise, we got increased poverty and the further erosion of affirmative action programs in colleges across the country.

Today, we need to redefine the policy battles by actually demanding what we want, not what we think we can get. That means being smart and bold enough to say aloud that incremental proposals are inadequate. Because the stakes are high and the need is urgent, we must insist that ...