White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era (P.S. Series)

A Must READ For Sociology Students

As an American citizen I can say that Shelby Steele¿s book `White Guilt¿ has stated what being American is all about. Mr. Steele has articulated in 181 pages what I try to say in semester of lectures, but he goes to right to the heart of the matter. America is built on individual responsibility, motivation and pride. Mr. Steele has said with eloquence and honesty what should have be said long ago in all sociology classes, `you are responsible¿ for your own destiny. As a professor of sociology this book will be a COMPULSORY READER for all my students this fall 2006 for Introduction to Sociology. Mr. Steele it was an honor to have read your book. Dr. Douglas O¿Neill South Dakota State University

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Whit Guilt will do. No need for the subtitle

I just finished and all I could think of was, is it even possible to hate white people more than Shelby Steele? This book is 180 pages of racist rantings. He comes up for air one time around page 100 to acknowledge that maybe white culture might have something noble to offer humanity. Then he dives right back into his bitter, whiny diatribe about how white people are responsible for every challenge black people face or have faced. I'm not gleaning this from the text. That's the theme, from beginning to end. For a guy who decries black victimhood peddlers, he sells it harder than the most shameless race hustler. He has some novel points about human nature and some decent prose but really, this book could have been written by any race baiter with a good vocabulary.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Excellent and still timely

Although 3 years from publication, this book remains especially timely in view of an African-American President and "progressive" Congress. It is concise, has an easily readable style (including an interesting comparison to the times and vices of Presidents Eisenhower and Clinton), and speaks with the combination of authority and perspective of one who has lived through changing times. White Guilt puts into words many of the vague feelings many whites (and presumably blacks) have -- for example, that a stand for morality and some of the foundations of American culture can be suppressed by charges of racism (and that a political-economic industry exists behind this). I look forward to more insights from this author.

During this presidental race I found myself very frustrated with racial bias not on the part of McCain but on the part of Obama supporters and press. I searched out a book that would help me to see if I was missing something in my own character.

White Guilt gave me a conservative black view of the civil rights movement. I also grew up in Chicago but in the Marquette Park neighboorhood that was the center of many civil rights marches.
Mr. Steele gives a good history of this movement and reasons why certain
social programs were inacted. Like Mr. Steele I feel enough is enough.

As a white person I find whenever I disagree with a black person I'm
considered a racist, although they are not, I don't get it. This is
the only negative I found with Mr. Steele he seems to only believe
white people can be racist. Why?

A reviewer

That's all I can say. I can't begin to articulate the brilliant points Steele makes in this book. It's a quick read, only 180 pages. It will be well worth your time if you've ever been puzzled about the state of race relations 'white-black' in a post Civil Rights era USA.

Brilliant View.

It's always important to look at the not so well known outcomes of historical movements. Our care-free attitudes are definately one of the effects of the Civil Rights Era, but with every monumental movement, there are both positive and negative effects. Pinpointing this outcome was great on the author's part.

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