The Content of Our Character by Shelby Steele
"The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America" by Shelby Steele is a thought-provoking examination of race relations in the United States, particularly focusing on the implications of affirmative action and the evolving landscape of African American political thought. Steele argues for a self-reliant approach within the African American community, advocating that individuals should seek solutions to their challenges independently rather than relying on government programs or white society. He critiques affirmative action, suggesting that it undermines the potential for African Americans to succeed based solely on their own merits, and he calls for a return to the original goals of the Civil Rights movement, emphasizing equal opportunity over preferential treatment.
The book, a compilation of previously published essays, sparked significant debate across various political and racial groups, highlighting the tensions between traditional civil rights advocacy and the perspectives of African American conservatives. Critics of Steele's views assert that affirmative action and civil rights legislation are essential for ensuring progress and safeguarding the advancements made by minority groups. This discourse reflects broader societal conversations about race, responsibility, and the pathways to true equality in America, making Steele's work a pivotal contribution to ongoing discussions about race and identity.
The Content of Our Character by Shelby Steele
First published: 1990
The Work
With The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America, Shelby Steele created a debate on the merits of affirmative action, the direction of the Civil Rights movement, and the growing ranks of African American political conservatives. Although certainly not the first to challenge views held by African American leaders, Steele pushed his challenge onto center stage more forcefully than others had before. Coming at a time when the United States was awash in conservative radio and television talk shows, the book quickly became a source of contention among political groups of all races and philosophies. Steele, through his television appearances, became a familiar figure throughout America as he explained and defended his ideas on race problems in America.
The book, titled after a line in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech, is a collection of essays, most of which appeared earlier in various periodicals. Central to Steele’s book is a call for the African American community to examine itself and look to itself for opportunities. He calls for African Americans to look not to government or white society but to itself for the solutions to its problems. Steele contends that African Americans enjoy unparalleled freedom; they have only to seize their freedom and make it work for them. He suggests that such programs as affirmative action contribute to the demoralization or demeaning of African Americans because preferential treatment denies them the opportunity to “make it on their own.”
Steele, calling for a return to the original purpose of the Civil Rights movement, says that affirmative action should go back to enforcing equal opportunity rather than demanding preferences. The promised land is, he writes, an opportunity, not a deliverance. Steele’s ideas were strongly challenged by African Americans who believe that affirmative action and other civil rights measures are necessary for minority groups to retain the advancements that have been forged and to assure an open path for further progress. Steele’s opponents believe that progress for minorities will not happen without civil rights laws and affirmative action. Opposition to Steele and other African American conservatives has led to charges that traditional African American civil rights leaders’ intolerance of different voices within the black community is itself a form of racism.
Bibliography
Baker, Houston A., Jr. Betrayal: How Black Intellectuals Have Abandoned the Ideals of the Civil Rights Era. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Extended attack on African American neoconservative individualism and plea for a renewed commitment to activism. Includes a chapter on Steele’s works and career.
Barnes, Fred. “The Minority Minority: Black Conservatives and White Republicans.” The New Republic 205 (September 30, 1991): 18-23. Steele is discussed alongside other prominent African American conservatives. Includes Steele’s comments on the furor over the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
“Black Voices.” Utne Reader, September/October, 1991, 50-62. Presents the views of a number of African American writers and scholars (including Steele, Bell Hooks, Cornel West, and Manning Marable) on problems facing the African American community. Provides a helpful context for interpreting Steele’s controversial opinions.
Bracey, Christopher Alan. “The Rising Tide of Black Neoconservative Intellectualism: The Blame Game, ’Self-Help,’ Shelby Steele, and John McWhorter.” In Saviors or Sellouts: The Promise and Peril of Black Conservatism, from Booker T. Washington to Condoleezza Rice. Boston: Beacon Press, 2008. Discusses the importance of the American neoconservative movement to understanding Steele’s particular brand of conservatism.
Edwards, Wayne. “Going It Alone: Author Shelby Steele Says Affirmative Action May Do More Harm than Good.” People Weekly 36 (September 2, 1991): 79-83. Discussion (including Steele’s comments) of one of Steele’s more controversial claims. The article’s appearance in a beacon of popular culture points up the depth of feeling Steele’s views arouse in both supporters and detractors.
Kirp, David L. Almost Home: America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Community. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000. Includes a chapter on Steele, emphasizing his refusal to see the United States as comprising a unified African American community and a unified white community.
Steele, Shelby. “The New Sovereignity: Grievance Groups Have Become Nations unto Themselves.” Harper’s Magazine 285 (July, 1992): 47-55. Steele argues in favor of integration through the elimination of interest-group lobbying, which he considers self-perpetuating and divisive.
Wolf, Geoffrey. Introduction to The Best American Essays of 1989, edited by Geoffrey Wolf. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1989. Early comments on Steele’s “On Being Black and Middle Class” (chapter 6 in The Content of Our Character), which is included in the anthology.