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

Consider the jumbled chronology of Steele’s book. How does skipping back and forth in time help his argument? How does it hinder it?

Steele draws broad conclusions about American society based on his personal observations. Discuss the strengths and weakness of this rhetorical style. Would a traditional scholarly apparatus of citations and footnotes have bolstered or weakened his argument? Explain.

Address the ways in which Steele’s conservative politics put him at odds with America’s entrenched cultural and institutional liberalism. 

Steele opposes affirmative action and other social programs aimed at counteracting racism, arguing that ‘real’ racism is a small problem and that entitlements deprive Black people of personal responsibility for their own success. Can personal responsibility and institutional help coexist, or are the two mutually exclusive? Explain.

Steele downplays the importance of global racism. What evidence does he provide to support this stance? How does he account for income, educational, and housing disparities between Black and White Americans in the absence of systemic racial discrimination?

Address the relationship between Marxism and White guilt.

Discuss Steele’s use of psychology in his treatment of John and Betty. 

How can Black people break the cycle of dependence?