White Guilt

How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era

By: Shelby Steele

Narrated by: JD Jackson

"Not unlike some of Ralph Ellison's or Richard Wright's best work. White Guilt, a serious meditation on vital issues, deserves a wide readership." — Cleveland Plain Dealer

In 1955 the killers of Emmett Till, a black Mississippi youth, were acquitted because they were white. Forty years later, despite the strong DNA evidence against him, accused murderer O. J. Simpson went free after his attorney portrayed him as a victim of racism. The age of white supremacy has given way to an age of white guilt—and neither has been good for African Americans.

Through articulate analysis and engrossing recollections, acclaimed race relations scholar Shelby Steele sounds a powerful call for a new culture of personal responsibility.

©2009 Shelby Steele (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

More Relevant Now Than Ever

Excellent read. Shelby Steele is one of America's leading public intellectuals. Insightful when it was released, and even more relevant today.

Excellent, thoughtful, and timely.

This book and the ideas expressed are valuable in defending against the rush to further exacerbate racial tensions through the prevalence of CRT and other forms of organized, socially acceptable racism in our present age.

A different point of view

Don't get me wrong, I agree with Steele and enjoyed his previous book Content of Our Character. But I've been on a Thomas Sowell kick and Sowell doesn't give much thought to his own racial identity. But Steele recalls his own feelings about racial rage and experiences with racial discrimination. It's from the point of view of a former 60s Black Power dude whose racial identity was glued to sticking it to the Man.

This point of view was interesting and he does mention the transformation of how he got from angry young college student to the middle class Black man with ideas about civil rights that are outdated by the intersectional radicals today.

I also appreciate his analysis of how and what powers this destructive racial dynamics that we are witnessing today. White guilt is fueling and feeding the race grifters who have been with us since the end of the Civil War. One of the things that struck a cord with me was on the Great Society. He had a different view of how those programs were corrupting, to those who administered them. We are very familiar with how the Great Society just obliterated the stable Black family, But not so much how it messed up the Black middle class too by not making them accountable for the programs they ran for the Black under class.

There are some terms and ideas in the book that make me wonder if younger generations would understand them. One such was the "tar baby". I'm Gen X, and was old enough to have seen or have the general concept of what was in Disney's Song of the South and read books related to the movie, which included the story of the tar baby. I dare you to find Disney's Song of the South anywhere.

Two things to be edited, one, the Bill Cosby section. Steele does not acknowledge Cosby being convicted in a court of law for sexual assault. If Steele did, it was a comment so short and fast I must have missed it. The other was sound quality. There were sections where I gather different cuts were spliced together, distracting from the flow of the narrator. This happened several times with the recording.

I know this is a new book, but some things in it are dated.

Interesting philosophy on how society has changed

Shelby Steele takes a look throughout at why something that Eisenhower said on a golf course would have taken a Clinton presidency down, but Clinton's infidelity would have taken Eisenhower down. Why the difference? He explores, while hitting many other topics.

Meticulous thought

Shelby Steele has taken the time and applied the mental muscle to masterfully articulate what many of us know to be true but just can not put our finger on.

Candid and Concise

Mr Steele's candid and detailed analysis of his transition from militant leftist to reluctant conservative resonated with me. As a fellow black conservative I've been perplexed for a number of years as to what transpired that shifted us from the victories of the civil rights era to the victimhood which is so prevalent among so many black Americans. Thank you for sharing your journey and for standing up for those who gave their lives to afford us the freedoms that we (blacks) are willing to relinquish in exchange for the perks of exploiting white guilt.

Better late than never

While I knew the authors name and have certainly read some of his commentary, I had not read this book until now. So I am now suffering from a completely different kind of white guilt :-). Seriously, there have been a handful of books in my life that I have read with the recurring thought of yes, that’s what I think, I only wish I could have articulated it. I have to give a quick nod to technology as well, given that it was technology that recommended this book based on other recent reading of mine. However my primary gratitude is to The author for the very deep soul-searching and thought that he clearly put into this topic. Thank you

The truth be told!

Brilliant analysis of the underlying problem in woke society,Shatters the lie of identity politics in postmodern thought.

This book is amazing.

Steele gets it. He’s lived it, seen it, and understands it. What makes this book so amazing is that he’s also able to convey it thoroughly and clearly. Probably THE best written non-fiction book I’ve ever read.

White Guilt is driving the pasty-white leftists

White guilt and a desire to be seen as a non-racist helper of minorities is what drives the white left today. As told through the eyes and ears of a black person who lived through segregation, civil rights, and the eventual transformation of the openly-racist Democrat party to the Democrat party of today, which uses minorities to retain democrat power.