Yes, in the past our prejudices and laws indeed hindered blacks and other minorities. Now, the message to them is “you can’t get ahead on your own because of what happened in the past”. Not only is this blaming others, it instills a sense of dependency on government and welfare because, the more independent people are, the less likely they are to hand over their freedoms and resources to the government.
While prejudices will never completely go away, government sanctioned laws put into place as a result of those prejudices have gone away. But minorities are still being told that they are victims. Just like Caucasians are being told that they are guilty of the actions of their ancestors. Sheesh, the entire human race might as well just give up because we’re all dependents of Adam and Eve who were condemned for their actions in the Garden of Eden.