How black Americans were on the rise before affirmative action, author Jason Riley explains in fascinating new book

Jason Riley makes his living by his pen — and wastes no ink or time in mincing words. “There’s a lot of intellectual cowardice going on in the country right now, and it’s a product, I think, of the ascendance of progressivism,” he tells The Post in an interview about his new book, “The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don’t Need Racial Preferences to Succeed.” The book’s title alone is sure to spur debate. Its author, a Wall Street Journal columnist and Manhattan Institute senior fellow, is somewhat bemused by his position as a provocateur. “I find it annoying that...