Funmurphys: the Blog

White Guilt: Foreward

Why yes, I've been busy lately - or I should say busier. So less posting. I just finished White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era by Shelby Steele. It really is a GUT (grand unified theory) that explains the political scene of the last 50 years. I'd like to explore the book in greater detail later, but I'll just note a few quick things, like how the Publisher's Weekly editorial review calls Mr. Steele "contrarian cultural critic Steele" which begs the question, contrarian to what? The establishment view? The gospel of the left? What the reviewer thinks? It's especially ironic as the review just noted that he's "speaking the language of moralism, individual freedom and responsibility" -- apparently all those things are no longer part of the dominant culture, or at least the dominant culture in publishing circles.

I found the book to be a quick, interesting, and very important read. I was drawn in when Mr. Steele described how his father would call out "Say chief" to get someone's attention in the 50's -- something my father did in the 60's.

But the most important part of the book is his theory of what happened at the culmination for the Civil Rights Movement, how White Guilt replaced White Superiority, and what the effect that has had on not just race relations ever since. Really good stuff.