http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_SteeleShelby Steele
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Shelby Steele (born January 1, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American scholar and social critic who specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. A political conservative, Steele is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, appointed there in 1994.
In his 1998 book A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America, Steele argues that too much of what has been done since the Great Society in the name of black rights has far more to do with the moral redemption or self-satisfaction of whites than with any real improvement in the lives of blacks.
In 2006, Shelby Steele updated his thesis in White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era, elaborating further on the complex relationship between white and black America. Steele asserts that in the wake of the Civil Rights era, there was a backlash against the white majority for perpetuating the oppression of blacks. In the face of this blame and outrage, white America came to cede any "moral authority" it had presumed in the past and instead adopt a stance of "white guilt".
Shelby Steele emphasizes that so-called "white guilt" is not a sense of personal remorse. Instead, Steele sees it as the white elite's practice of accepting responsibility for the inability of black America to fulfill its socioeconomic potential. This mentality is purportedly manifested in one-sided policies such as affirmative action and social welfare systems that create dependency. According to Steele, the phenomenon of "white guilt" stems from the white elites' wariness of being viewed as racists and oppressors. Steele also charges that too many blacks adopt the identity of racial victimhood and thus disempower themselves by shedding personal responsibility for their circumstances.
Like many other black conservatives, Steele fosters the idea that the peculiar social dynamics between whites and blacks in America has hurt both groups. In particular, whites continue to bear the perceived brunt of the responsibility for the lack of progress of much of black America. Meanwhile, in this view, many blacks have become disempowered and dispossessed by the emphasis of their roles as apparent victims of racism and the status quo.
Recognition
Steele received the National Book Critic's Circle Award in 1990 in the general non-fiction category for his book The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America. He also has written extensively for major publications including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He also is a contributing editor at Harper's Magazine.
He also is a member of the National Association of Scholars, the national board of the American Academy for Liberal Education, the University Accreditation Association, and the national board at the Center for the New American Community at the Manhattan Institute.
He has written widely on race in American society and the consequences of contemporary social programs on race relations. He has also spoken before hundreds of groups and appeared on national current affairs news programs including Nightline and 60 Minutes.
In 1991, his work on the documentary Seven Days in Bensonhurst was recognized with an Emmy Award, the Writer's Guild Award for television documentary writing, and the San Francisco Film Festival Award for television documentary writing. In 2004, Steele was awarded the National Humanities Medal.
Background
Steele holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah, an M.A. in sociology from Southern Illinois University and a B.A. in political science from Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Steele's twin brother is social scientist Claude Steele.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_Steele"
Categories: 1946 births | Living people | Non-fiction writers | People from Chicago | African Americans | African American academics
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