PDF White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era by Shelby Steele in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. seems like "Moral Guilt" would have been betterBy Dennis PitzWhat 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 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A must-read!By Doctor FredAbsolutely the best analysis of how and why the troubled 60's still haunt us; and why things are no better; and arguably much worse; than they were then. All you have to do is to read the Publishers' Daily review and note the condescending; "But progressive readers will object to his assertion..."; meaning if you are not a Neanderthal and have any brains; you will not agree with Dr. Steele's analysis; to see the problem that remains.Racism in this country; IMHO; was not the cause of slavery; it was the result of it. It was a form of cognitive dissonance - we "own" these people; so we must be better than they are. Various rationalizations were made for this "peculiar institution" historically; from legal to religious. Ultimately; however; the country realized that it was just plain wrong. This came about in the 60's; and the person most responsible for bringing it to national attention was Dr. Martin Luther King; Jr. He preached an end to discrimination; segregation; and so forth; and asked simply for Blacks to be treated equally; in a color-blind fashion.Unfortunately; Whites were overcome by enormous guilt by the realization that their previous attitudes were a house of cards. Young people; who were simply going through a natural process of rebellion against their parents; took up the cause. In this case; however; their parents; and society in general; felt so badly about their past behavior; that they aligned themselves with the kids. The kids; in response; generalized this response as giving legitimacy to whatever unreasonable demands might be; and extended the arena to include the Vietnam War the environment; and whatever else they could find fault with. Their parents; in the throes of what he calls White Guilt; found themselves unable to answer any of these demands; and therefore in the eyes of the young people; and more importantly in their own eyes; lost all moral legitimacy. They could not even condemn the "sexual revolution"; which was simply adolescent lust given a new veneer because sexual mores were somehow associated with the past; and thus slavery. In fact; anything the kids did not like could be construed as being linked with slavery; simply because it co-existed with it; and thus seen as something that needed changing. A classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.What was society to do? The kids (whom we will now call liberals) answered with moral relativism - there is no right or wrong; it is all situational. They could no longer look to what had always been done or believed; because anything that preceded them was linked with slavery and thus illegitimate. For the first time in history; you had the children telling their parents what was right and wrong; the inmates running the asylum. Anyone who did not agree (as implied in the quote above) was himself a remnant of the past and thus stupid and bigoted.Society found the answer in what Dr. Steele calls dissociation. Not only white people; but older people of all races (including Martin Luther King Jr. and the original architects of the Civil Rights movement) were seen as bereft of moral authority and were replaced by a new generation of Black leaders like Dick Gregory who preached; instead of integration; segregation; or "dissociation"; from White society. If you were White; then; the key to "proving" that you were not aligned with the sins of the past; purging your guilt by association (or color); and establishing your own moral legitimacy was to "prove" that you were not a part of the racist past. Universities; for example; felt they had lost their authority even to educate; and could only re-establish some leadership by demonstrating that they were distancing themselves from the past by instituting racial preferences in the form of "affirmative action programs." These programs produced numbers that made the (predominantly) White folks in charge feel good about themselves but did nothing to address the real problem of why they had to lower their standards to produce those numbers; and the process caused them to abdicate their primary role as educators in the process. These programs; since they did nothing to improve the education of Black children; the real cause of the problem; left Blacks beholding to the largesse of the Whites in charge for their academic success; and tacitly admitting that they are incapable of achieving success as a White person would; by hard work. This situation certainly does not leave Blacks feeling good about themselves; and helps to explain why racial tensions have not diminished.Thus; affirmative action leaves Whites in charge; promotes racist thinking on their part (they are do dumb that we have to lower our standards to accommodate them) and leaves Blacks angry because they feel that the Black opportunist leadership has sold them out.The book in incredibly perceptive; but the theme is so simple and obvious that there is no question that Dr. Steele is right on in his assessment. Read the book; look at what is going on in the news; whether it be political; social; or scientific; and try to figure out how we are going to fix the result of forty years of this thinking.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I recommend this book to anyone who wants more than the ...By Barbara RussellPerceptive 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.