White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era 1st Edition

by Shelby Steele (Author)

130 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0060578626

ISBN-10: 0060578629

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In 1955 the murderers of Emmett Till, a black Mississippi youth, were acquitted of their crime, undoubtedly because they were white. Forty years later, O. J. Simpson, whom many thought would be charged with murder by virtue of the DNA evidence against him, went free after his attorney portrayed him as a victim of racism. Clearly, a sea change had taken place in American culture, but how had it happened? In this important new work, distinguished race relations scholar Shelby Steele argues that the age of white supremacy has given way to an age of white guilt -- and neither has been good for African Americans.

As the civil rights victories of the 1960s dealt a blow to racial discrimination, American institutions started acknowledging their injustices, and white Americans -- who held the power in those institutions -- began to lose their moral authority. Since then, our governments and universities, eager to reclaim legitimacy and avoid charges of racism, have made a show of taking responsibility for the problems of black Americans. In doing so, Steele asserts, they have only further exploited blacks, viewing them always as victims, never as equals. This phenomenon, which he calls white guilt, is a way for whites to keep up appearances, to feel righteous, and to acquire an easy moral authority -- all without addressing the real underlying problems of African Americans. Steele argues that calls for diversity and programs of affirmative action serve only to stigmatize minorities, portraying them not as capable individuals but as people defined by their membership in a group for which exceptions must be made.

Through his articulate analysis and engrossing recollections of the last half-century of American race relations, Steele calls for a new culture of personal responsibility, a commitment to principles that can fill the moral void created by white guilt. White leaders must stop using minorities as a means to establish their moral authority -- and black leaders must stop indulging them. As White Guilt eloquently concludes, the alternative is a dangerous ethical relativism that extends beyond race relations into all parts of American life.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Speaking the language of moralism, individual freedom and responsibility, contrarian cultural critic Steele builds on ideas he earlier articulated in his National Book Critics Circle Award–winner The Content of Our Character (1990). Today's problem, Steele forcefully argues, is not black oppression, but white guilt, a loose term that encompasses both an attempt by whites to regain the moral authority they lost after the Civil Rights Movement, and black contempt toward "Uncle Tom" complicity with white hegemony, resulting in a shirking of personal accountability. Steele makes a passionate case against the "Faustian bargain" he perceives on the left: "we'll throw you a bone like affirmative action if you'll just let us reduce you to your race so we can take moral authority for 'helping' you." But progressive readers will object to his assertion that systemic racism is a thing of the past—and to his praise of the Bush administration's philosophy on poverty, education and race. Though Steele takes a hard, critical look at affirmative action, self-serving white liberals and self-victimizing black leaders, he stops short of offering real-world solutions. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Steele asserts that the primary focus of the civil-rights era was a legitimate quest to remove racial barriers. In the shift to the black-power era, Steele sees a paradigm shift, away from racial uplift and agency, where blacks assume responsibility for themselves, to a "race is destiny" mode. As the counterculture merged with the civil-rights movement, America was exposed for its racial hypocrisy and, consequently, lost its moral authority. Here, "white guilt" became the moral framework for America. Steele argues that liberal whites embraced guilt for two reasons: to avoid being seen as racists and to embrace a vantage point where they could mete out benefits to disadvantaged blacks through programs such as affirmative action. Steele believes blacks made a deal with the devil by exchanging responsibility and control over their destiny for handouts. He sees a deficiency in black middle-class educational achievement, further raising questions about claims of lack of equal opportunity. Despite these omissions, the cultural analysis of America's loss of moral authority for its exposed racism has resonance today. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (May 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060578629
ISBN-13: 978-0060578626
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
Average Customer Review: 130 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Race Relations > General
- #47 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > Civil Rights
- #207 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Civil Rights & Liberties

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A MUST READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 30, 2017

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This book was a real eye opener for me and helped me understand the current political situation in our country and the reason for the "Big Divide"! I was previously unaware of Shelby Steel and saw him on a TV interview. Now I wish I had discovered him sooner. I plan to get his most recent book. I would also like to extend a thank you to and encourage others to read Thomas Sowell, Jason Reilly and Burgess Owens. They have collectively help me get my head screwed on correctly and provided me with much needed understanding

21 people found this helpful22 people found this helpful

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Ed Brodow

Absolutely a knockout!

August 29, 2018

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I was impressed with Shelby Steele's "A Bound Man," but "White Guilt" really knocked me out. He describes white guilt as a self-serving effort by liberal whites to feel better about themselves, not to atone for a moral crime. Black militancy, he says, is an effort to profit from white guilt—much easier than assuming responsibility. Coming down against "social justice," he regards it as a way of avoiding taking responsibility by depending on the largesse of whites. "And so we became slaves again, our fate the responsibility of others." "The greatest black problem in America today," he argues, "is freedom." I liked his comparing black insufficiency in reading and writing with excellence in sports and entertainment. If the latter works, why can't the former? Steele offers an original take on both the history of race in America and the bifurcation of politics into liberal and conservative camps. He describes the cultural war as a war between the Right—grounded in principle and values—and the Left—focused on dissociation from America's racist past. The American Right is enjoying a political and cultural ascendency, he says, because (1) the Left has "ceded its old territory—compassionate Jeffersonian liberalism—to the right, thereby ceding to it precisely the democratic principles and values of individual freedom and responsibility that have made America a great nation," and (2) "today's right understands that racism, sexism, and reckless militarism are morally wrong." He surprised me by complimenting George W. Bush's reference to the "bigotry of low expectations." Steele says Bush "offered a new theory: dissociation from the racist past through principle and individual responsibility rather than at the expense of these things." Steele became a conservative because liberals asked him to believe in dissociation instead of "demanding principles as the road to black advancement." He dislikes affirmative action because it provides an "incentive for mediocrity and a disincentive for excellence." Favorite quote: "If I've learned anything in all of this, it is that if you want to be free, you have to make yourself that way and pay whatever price the world exacts."

5 people found this helpful6 people found this helpful

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Dennis Pitz

seems like "Moral Guilt" would have been better

August 23, 2017

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What an incredible book. While written 11 years ago, it still is appropriate today. Most of the things plaguing our society today can be attributed to the subject of the book. My only complaint would be the title; seems like "Moral Guilt" would have been better, as the guilt described can be applied to things other than racial.

8 people found this helpful9 people found this helpful

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Barbara Russell

I recommend this book to anyone who wants more than the ...

October 9, 2017

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Perceptive and original analysis of a stubborn and seemingly intractable problem. Shelby Steele is a fascinating writer who enlightened me on a subject I have pondered many times. I recommend this book to anyone who wants more than the usual pablum and worn-out useless cliches.

5 people found this helpful6 people found this helpful

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P.Dizmang

White Guilt

August 18, 2018

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This was one of the best books I’ve ever read. It helped me understand so much about our country, racism, feminism, sexism. I grew up in the 50s, experienced the 60s. Our country has gone through so many moral changes. I’ve gone
from being raised In a strongly Democratic, Catholic family, leaving my Catholic religion, to re-joining my beloved Catholicism and becoming a new conservative person. I feel the present Republican Party under President Trump is putting me back on track.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

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Mark D.

Now I understand...

August 1, 2018

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Very interesting book! Helps to explain a lot of the state of our country's political polarity from an unbiased and knowledgable source who doesn't mince words!

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Tarheel74

Best summation of modern race relations in our country...

August 11, 2018

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This book is an erudite and clear-headed examination of the current state of race relations in our country. Having grown up in segregation, the author presents a very unique perspective on the issues surrounding racial issues facing our society today. He paints a somewhat poignant picture of “what might have been” in regard to the squandered opportunities that could have been afforded to blacks and whites following the sacrifices of civil rights pioneers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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Frank Lee

brilliant, insightful

March 21, 2012

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a great exploration of race relations and how we all squandered the civil rights era. the highlight for me was the disemboweling of maureen dowd from the ny times. i won't spoil it, but what steele points out in that section reminded me of the quote 'the soft bigotry of low expectations', except dowd wanted to be thanked for those low expectations. and without this book, my now deeper understanding of ellison's 'the invisible man' would have been worthlessly shallow. thanks, mr. steele.

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White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era 1st Edition

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