To the Editor:

In his op-ed of March 5, Dr. Arthur Garrison makes reference to the 1965 U.S. Department of Labor report by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The conclusion of this report was federal government programs would be necessary for "enhancing the stability and resources of the Negro American family" following structural deformities caused by three centuries of injustices.

Dr. Garrison concludes the report is just as valid today, 50 years later.

Oddly, I agree with his conclusion, but not for the same reasons.

After 50 years of social welfare programs and affirmative action, the state of black Americans and the black family structure is still problematic.

However, this is not because of nasty conservatives, who don't favor paying reparations for three centuries of injustices, or the politics of the mid '60s, or other unconstructive and misleading arguments.

The problems still exist 50 years later because of the very government programs, which for 50 long years have been giving poor black Americans a fish, instead of teaching them how to fish.

Pat Kottke

Upper Macungie