White guilt
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.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
4mentions
3people
2021–2022years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Up From Slavery by Booker T Washington
After being prepped for an understanding of the conflict of visions by Thomas Sowell, Booker T Washington's autobiography really brings it all home as to what could have been. The accomplishments, the respect, the fulfillment.
A close second is Shelby Steele's White Guilt, in particular, his description of the difference of his parents' civil rights attitude (change the laws, get along) compared to his own in his youth (burn it down) with his eventual understanding of where that came from and what the consequences were.
I haven't finished it yet, but I am currently working through Thomas Sowell's Ethnic America which has a very satisfying history so far of different ethnic groups in America.
I also have to say that most years, I have barely been able to read even a few books. But this year I got audible and have now listened to 35 books. Of course, I have a growing queue which now stands at 176 books.
- White Guilt, by Shelby Steele. Gave me the conceptual tools to actually understand the political dynamics of racism in the US, rather than mere activist propaganda (as offered by other, similarly titled books). Plus it’s really well-written, and enjoyable to read.
- Shelby Steele does a good job of diagnosing the malady in his book White Guilt: when institutional America had to own up to its sins in the era of civil rights, it surrendered moral authority. Every generation rebels, but usually the kids come back to the same principles that their parents held once they experience the real world for a time. The civil rights era broke this pattern: the adults were wrong, and admitted it, and so an entire generation (Boomers) came of age thinking they had the justified authority to question and possibly overturn any of their elders’ institutions.
- Check out White Guilt, by Shelby Steele.
