Shelby and Me

Tim Wilson

During the 1950s and 1960s, people of various racial backgrounds joined together to fight racial injustice. Believing that America would be a better nation if all of its people were free, these activists fought for laws ensuring that the body politic could live, work, and learn together. In many respects, these "Freedom Fighters" were successful. Generation X is the most racially diverse generation in American history. Unfortunately, many of the struggles they believed they had "overcome" are re-appearing with a vengeance (e.g., church burnings, and harassment, etc).. In some cases, it seems as though the 19th century is being revisited.

In his text, The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America, Shelby Steele (1990) argues that race is no longer as powerful a determinant as to whether or not one has equitable opportunities in America. Steele calls on people of color, specifically Black people, to abandon "race holding" (the exploitation of past injustices for personal gain) and to reject programs such as affirmative action, which he believes "leaps over the hard work of developing a formerly oppressed people" (Steele, p. 115). This article, taking the form of a fictional correspondence between Steele and the author, is a response to the ideas articulated in Steele's text.

Date: Mon, 18 Nov 1996 16:23:15-0500
From: cldwzdm@zoo.uvm.edu
To: ssteele@aol.com
Subject: Content of Our Character

Shelby -

I just read your book, The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America, and while I agree with many of your ideas, I also have some concerns. Specifically, I'm concerned with your ideas on the state of racism and affirmative action in America. I wish to argue that your ideas on these topics are misguided at best.

You state that "if conditions have worsened for most of us as racism has receded, then much of the problem must be of our own making" (Steele, 1990, p. 15). This sounds like a "blame the victim" mentality. Blaming people of color for racism only perpetuates this unjust social system. Granted, the younger generation (of which I am a part) talks a lot about the need for role models. The question society needs to ask people in my generation is "what role will you play?" (Giovanni, 1994, p. 98). Young people of color must be challenged to do "the very difficult job of helping themselves and someone else by building something" (Giovanni, p. 98), as well as honoring "the very best in themselves instead of the very worst" (Giovanni, p. 98).

It is true that individual responsibility and hard work go a long way in helping individuals to overcome socially imposed barriers, however, you need to understand that racism can keep hard work and individual responsibility "in check". Racism is not only alive and well Shelby, it is also a very shrewd character. "It can be sly. It can smile when it wants to trick you" (Steele, 1990, p. 7). After reading some of your ideas on the issue of race, it looks as if you have been tricked.

You're probably used to seeing a different face of racism, as well as hearing a different voice. Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, you were probably used to reading and hearing about atrocities like lynchings, cross burnings, and church bombings on a regular basis. Since that time racism has changed its face and its voice. Dalton (1995) calls this new and improved version "soft racism":

The idea that affirmative action is bad because it stigmatizes those it seeks to benefit; the idea that a breakdown of values in the Black community is the primary cause of (as against being a reflection of) its misery; the assumption that one should monitor more closely the work of the new Latino employee because the strangeness of the environment might create special problems for him; the belief that Asian-Americans are inherently less creative than Whites. Ideas, assumptions, and beliefs such as these function to explain and justify why things are as they are, to absolve those on top from responsibility, and to feed dynamics that place people of color in no-win situations. (p. 94)

Just look at the Harvard Law School faculty if you need a modern day example of this new and improved racism. Instead of saying outright that it would not hire a woman of color to the faculty, Harvard hid behind the banners of academic freedom and meritocracy. After hosting visiting scholars such as Regina Austin, Mari Matsuda, and Lani Guinier, Harvard had the audacity to say that it "could not find a single woman of color whose appointment to the faculty would not irredeemably compromise Harvard's high standards of excellence" (Bell, 1995, p. 64). What message do you think this sends to students? I can just hear some of the Harvard faculty saying we'll hire a few professors of color as long as they sit in their place and behave. They better not challenge the status quo, because if they do, they won't be here for long. This is just one example of the new face and voice of racism. "Former Yale President Kingman Brewster suggests that the greatest threat to academic freedom at major universities comes from internal pressures for intellectual conformity rather than from external influence" (Bell, 1995, p. 75). What many schools fail to realize is that a faculty comprised of diverse people will, inevitably, teach in more diverse ways and produce more diverse and challenging scholarship.

In addition to the softer side of racism, the hard edge has reappeared. Once again, Black churches are being burned throughout the rural South and students of color are taking over administrative buildings to protest oppressive campus environments. You even admit that people of color continue to suffer racial indignities. Black students have read posters saying that "a mind is a terrible thing to waste-especially on a nigger" (D'Souza, 1991, p. 1). At one campus on the west coast, Black faculty have been threatened ("Black faculty", 1996). You admit to making it a point to wear a tie to your classes so that students know you are the teacher. You even admit to winning a housing discrimination suit. Knowing all of this, how can you say that racism is on the decline?

Race matters (West, 1993), Shelby. Racism is still an issue because our society has failed to make it the issue it needs to be. We need to talk openly and honestly about the anger, fear, and pain racism creates in our society. We need to develop an analysis of what racism is, how it works, who is hurt (and helped) by such a system, and why it continues to thrive in our society. Make no mistake: These conversations will not start and end overnight. Three hundred years of oppression is not overcome by thirty years of so-called "progress". One of my classmates noted that conversations like these will be painful, but through that pain, our society will benefit tremendously (K. Jacobs, Personal Communication, 1995). Until this day of resolution comes, race will continue to matter and racism will continue to exist.

You note that the legal protection enjoyed by people of color today has done a great deal to dull the legal power that racism once had. Do these legal protections come from the same government that stole land from Native Americans and subjected them to the "Trail of Tears" ? Are we talking about the government that legally sanctioned the chattel slavery of tens of millions of Africans and then used them as guinea pigs in studying the effects of Syphillis on the human body? Is the government that set up all of these legal protections the same one that turned much of Mexico into California? Is this the same government that forced loyal American citizens of Japanese descent into internment camps during World War II? Correct me if I'm wrong, but are we talking about the government which, until the 1950s, required immigrants to be "white" if they wanted to be naturalized as American citizens (López, 1996)? You'll forgive me if I don't display complete confidence in the American government.

Even though I don't completely trust our government, its past treatment of people of color makes me believe that it is morally obligated to continue implementing programs like affirmative action. These programs are a form of government acknowledgement that it has not only wronged people of color in the past, but that it is also attempting to remedy the situation. These programs are needed in order to provide a more level playing field for everyone. Lyndon Johnson once said

You do not take a person who for years has been hobbled by chains and liberate him [sic], bring him [sic] up to the starting line of a race and say, 'You are free to compete with all the others', and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. (as cited in Traub, 1995, p. 54)

Affirmative action helps increase the level of fairness in the race. It is an attempt to remedy past discrimination which is perpetuated in current systems. You said that affirmative action "only passes out entitlement by color" (Steele, 1990, p. 121), that it "leaps over the hard work of developing a formerly oppressed people to the point where they can achieve proportional representation on their own" (Steele, p. 115). I disagree with you. My father once told me that "affirmative action won't get your lesson for you!" My dad was right. Individual responsibility and hard work are important keys to success in America, but opportunity is also an important key. Mae Jemison said it best when she stated "I am not the first African American woman who had the skills and talent to become an astronaut. I had the opportunity" (as cited in Giovanni, 1994, p. 79). "We who are adult must adjust systems to include those who have been artificially excluded" (Giovanni, p. 144).

Higher education often professes a commitment to diversity. "All students must have the opportunity to interact with people of all colors in positions of authority in the academy" (Giovanni, 1994, p. 102). Affirmative action helps provide this opportunity. "As long as higher education considers itself 'higher', with all the privileges but none of the attendant responsibilities, then hypocrisy is the only lesson our students learn" (Giovanni, p. 109). Affirmative action's intent is to provide opportunity where it has been historically denied. It is designed to provide qualified applicants with the same opportunity others have. Because you have to be "qualified" to begin with, there is an implied development component. The question before society is how do we go about developing our children to the point where they will be prepared to take their place in society?

Affirmative action does not replace hard work, nor was it ever intended to. Affirmative action provides the opportunity that racism takes away. Even with affirmative action, "it is not new to me that I have to be better than anyone in the club to be admitted" (Giovanni, 1994, p. 143). People often complain to Blacks about affirmative action, as if it is some magical guarantee of success. They say "it's not fair. It's easier for you guys to get into college than for other people" (Giovanni, p. 105). Nikki Giovanni is right when she asks "if it's so easy, why aren't there more of us?" (Giovanni, p. 106). It is interesting to me that people of color are often criticized for affirmative action because White women have benefitted the most from this program (Chideya, 1995). This is one fact that is rarely mentioned in the debate over affirmative action.

No one is self-made. Everyone needs help from someone or something in order to succeed. A friend of mine once noted that equality and equity are two different things. "Equality means that everyone in society has a pair of shoes. Equity means that everyone has shoes that fit" (J. Brown, Personal Communication, 1996). Affirmative action not only increases the level of equality in the race, but the level of equity as well. By attempting to remedy past discrimination which is perpetuated in current systems, affirmative action provides the disenfranchised with shoes that fit. My parents, siblings, and I have benefitted from affirmative action. I would even venture to guess that you have as well. While it is not perfect and needs to be revamped in order to fit with the times, it is an important policy component in the effort to resolve our society's issues of race and should not be ended.

You've raised important questions in our society's continuing debate on racial issues. I really do agree with many of your ideas, but as you can see, I also have many points of contention. I suppose that you and I will have to agree to disagree.

Take Care,
Tim

Shelby's Reply

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 14:22:25 -0500
From: ssteele@aol.com
To: cldwzdm@zoo.uvm.edu
Re: Content of Our Character

Thank you for your message. I appreciate your insights on my ideas articulated in The Content of Our Character. You are not the first person to take exception with my ideas. I think you (along with many other people) have misinterpreted what I am trying to say. Allow me to try and clear some things up for you.

Acts of overt racism, such as the ones you detailed in your letter (lynchings, bombings, etc.), are in decline. I admit to hearing about a cross burning or a Klan rally every once in a while, and the church burnings in the South are indeed atrocities. The difference I see now (as opposed to thirty years ago) is that there are more people willing to openly oppose such actions and opinions. Thirty years ago, very few White southerners would have donated money and/or time to help a Black congregation rebuild its church after it had been burned down. This is happening today. While I was growing up, very few people would stand up to the Klan for fear of reprisal. Today, people of different races are standing together to challenge the hate and ignorance perpetuated by the Klan and other like-minded organizations.

In my book, I never said that racism was non-existent. You are right in pointing out that it is still "alive and well." However, the legal protection we enjoy today has indeed done a great deal to dull the power institutional racism once had. It is no longer legal to bar people of color from registering to vote or from attending universities because of the color of their skin. In the 1990s, we are exposed to racial insensitivity more often than we are to acts of overt racism. The campus incidents I have read about seem "prankish and adolescent" (Steele, 1990, p. 129). While these incidents do have an edge of meanness to them, these sentiments in no way prevent me, or anyone else, from succeeding in America unless I allow it to do so.

You pointed to the situation with the Harvard Law school faculty as an example of the new face and voice of racism. I argue that it is Harvard's right as a private institution to hire whomever it wants. If my teaching or writing style does not fit into Harvard's program, there is nothing that can make Harvard or anyone else hire me. You also asked what message the faculty at Harvard was sending to students. I think the message sent to students is that they cannot rely on skin color and gender as guarantees of employment and success (or the opposite).

Overt racism does exist but it is not as big a factor as it once was. We have more control over our lives than we like to think. Whether you agree or not, people of color have more opportunity today than ever before. After being snubbed by Harvard, Lani Guinier and Regina Austin were both hired by the University of Pennsylvania. For a time, Guinier was considered for a high ranking post in the Department of Justice. These opportunities probably would not have existed in the 1960s. Even though people of color have more opportunity today than ever before, the gap between the median incomes of Whites and Blacks is greater today than it was in the 1970s (Steele, 1990). Why is this the case? The chaos of set-aside programs like affirmative action has caused many of its "beneficiaries" to lose their senses of individual responsibility, hard work, and self-confidence. We are the only ones who can provide these virtues.

In regard to your comments about the sins of the American government, I have only one question: If the American government is so corrupt, so untrustworthy, why do you trust it to carry out the mandate of affirmative action? In your message, you seemed to be saying that the American government is bent upon the destruction of people of color, yet you expect the same government to help you recover from the beating it inflicted upon you. This makes no sense to me. You are right in noting that the American government has wronged people of color throughout its history. Slavery, the theft of land (from Native Americans and Mexicans), and the internment of Japanese-Americans were wrong. "Suffering can be endured and overcome, it cannot be repaid" (Steele, 1990, p. 119). We have made adjustments in our system to ensure that people have some type of recourse when injustice occurs. We have also enacted laws guaranteeing that all Americans, of all colors, have equal opportunity and are judged based upon merit and nothing else.

Have you ever heard of Marva Collins? She is a well known educator and founder of the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago. The children in her school are learning material that many people will not encounter until high school or even college. The works of Tolstoy, Plato, Emerson and others are read, comprehended, and analyzed by students who have often been written off by other educators (Collins & Tamarkin, 1982). How is this possible? First of all, these children work very hard and in doing so, they learn about the virtues of self-discipline and persistence. Secondly, Collins teaches these children that there are no free rides.

They have been led to believe that someone else is going to do things for them. Too many Black [sic] people have fallen into the pattern of listening to the self-proclaimed leaders who find it in their best interest to make people feel there are 'free rides' in this world. . . . So many foreign immigrants . . . come to America and make it. . . . Unfortunately . . . many Blacks [sic] are waiting for White [sic] America to be their Messiah. (Collins & Tamarkin, 1982, p. 54)

Collins teaches her students to take Emerson's poem "Self Reliance" to heart. "He believed that every person has a free will and can choose to make his life what he wants it to be. . . . I believe that you can make your life anything you want it to be" (Collins & Tamarkin, 1982, p. 25). This is the attitude all people must have in order to succeed in America.

Affirmative action, on the surface, looks like a good deal. While its intent is to provide opportunity where opportunity has been denied, it actually fans the fire of racial animosity as it is currently practiced. Part of this division stems from the way in which programs like affirmative action are practiced. Look at California's struggle with Proposition 209 if you need an example. There is more division and mistrust along racial lines now than there has been in quite some time. Consider the way the University of California at Berkeley practiced affirmative action in its admissions policies. In an attempt to create a campus population that accurately reflected the racial makeup of the state, some students of color (mainly Latinos and Blacks) with lower grade point averages and SAT scores were admitted to Berkeley, while other students (mainly Asians and Whites) with higher grades and test scores were not (D'Souza, 1991). The university basically had two admissions standards: one for some students of color, namely Latinos and Blacks, and another for everyone else. Do you believe this is fair? Is this the "equality" that people who came before you and me dreamed about and fought for?

Affirmative action functions as a social program, attempting to offer payment for atrocities that are beyond reparations. "If all Blacks [sic] were given a million dollars tomorrow morning it would not amount to a dime on the dollar of three centuries of oppression, nor would it obviate the residues of that oppression that we still carry today" (Steele, 1990, p. 119). Affirmative action indirectly encourages us to exploit our past victimization as a source of power and privilege, and "tells us that preferences can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves" (Steele, p. 119). In its current state, affirmative action is a form of "an eye for an eye" justice which, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, leaves everyone blind. It's like an addiction, an opiate of our people. In order for us to get clean, we will have to rely on our own individual efforts in order to survive, succeed and excel in American society. If we are capable of surviving over 200 years of chattel slavery, then we are more than capable of achieving everything that Whites can and have achieved in this age of freedom.

In his poem Invictus, William Earnest Henley says "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." When it comes down to it, the choice is in the hands of each individual as to whether he or she wants to succeed. Reflecting upon his experience at the Million Man March, NAACP President and CEO, Kweisi Mfume said the participants "had found the will to admit that [they] couldn't wait for others" (as cited in Holt, 1997, p. 3) to do what Black people had to do for themselves. All people of color must also summon the same will. You used an example in order to articulate the difference between equality and equity by stating that "Equality means that everyone in society has a pair of shoes. Equity means that everyone has shoes that fit." In the spirit of the Million Man March, I would sooner have people of color make their own shoes than to have them given to us by a government mandated program like affirmative action. We have done it before, we are more than capable of doing so, and we know that those things which are worked for hardest are appreciated most.

While there will be obstacles in our way as we move along the road to success, we cannot allow the "not-yet-healed wounds from the past" (Steele, 1990, p. 137) to keep us from reaching our full potential as individuals and as a community. We must play a more active role in pulling ourselves out of the hole that racism has put us in. This task is complicated because affirmative action "passes out entitlement by color" (Steele, p. 121)m rather than competence. Working within the parameters of affirmative action subjects us to the whim of the government and keeps us from succeeding on our own terms. When we endeavor to make our own shoes, we not only dictate the process, but we also succeed on our terms.

Fannie Lou Hamer once said that she believed Black "people should return to some of the things that have made us strong for so many years. If we hadn't been a strong people we would have crumbled long ago" (as cited in "Our anniversary book", 1995, p. 92). Mrs. Hamer was right. In order to reclaim empowering virtues such as faith, a solid work ethic, perseverance, etc., we must reject programs such as affirmative action, roll up our sleeves and do the hard work necessary to succedd in a meritocracy like the United States. This is the only way that we will ever be able to fulfill Dr. King's dream of being judged by the content of our character, as opposed to our gender and/or the color of our skin.

Take Care
Shelby

Bell, D. (1994). Confronting authority: Reflections of an ardent protester. Boston: Beacon.

Black faculty threatened at San Diego State. (1996, December 6). The Chronicle of Higher Education (43). p. A12.

Chideya, F. (1995). Don't believe the hype: Fighting cultural misinformation about African-Americans. New York: Penguin.

Collins, M. & Tamarkin, C. (1982). Marva Collins way: Returning to excellence in education. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Dalton, H. (1995). Racial healing: Confronting the fear between Blacks and Whites. New York: Doubleday.

D'Souza, D. (1991). Illiberal education: The politics of race and sex on campus. New York: Vintage.

Giovanni, N. (1994). Racism 101. New York: Quill.

Holt, P. (1997, January 5), Advancing his people, step by step: Kweisi Mfume's troubled youth and later years in Congress have left him with strong ideas of how to reignite the African American community as he takes the reins of the NAACP. The San Fransisco Chronicle, p. 3.

Lopez, I. F. H. (1996). White by law: The legal construction of race. New York: New York University Press.

Our anniversary book. (October, 1995). Essence (26), pp. 89-98.

Steele, S. (1990). The content of our character: A new vision of race in America. New York: Harper Perennial.

Traub, J. (1995). City on a hill. New York: Addison-Wesley.

West, C. (1993). Race matters. New York: Beacon Press.

Tim Wilson graduates from San Diego State with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing in 1992. He is currently a second year student in the UVM HESA program and is a Graduate Assistant for Student Life in the Department of Residential Life.