Shelby Steele | |
Shelby SteeleShelby Steele, "The Recoloring of Campus Life: Student Racism,
Academic Pluralism, and the End of a Dream" Shelby Steele (1946- ) was born in Chicago and earned an M.A. from Southern
Illinois University in 1971 and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in
1974. He has taught high school and has been on the faculty of San Jose
University for more than twenty-five years. Steele frequently writes about
issues of race relations including affirmative action and other social
programs. His books include The Content of Our Character: A New Vision
of Race in America (1990), which won the National Book Critics Circle
Award, and A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in
America (1998). He contributes frequently to periodicals such as the
New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and is a frequent
guest on television shows like Nightline and NewsHour. "The
Recoloring of Campus Life: Student Racism, Academic Pluralism, and the
End of a Dream" was first published in 1989 in Harper's magazine
and reprinted in The Content of Our Character. | QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION | CONTENT - What things were painted on the wall at Yale's Afro-American cultural
center in 1988?
- According to the author, why are the racial difficulties he comments
about "new and surprising"?
- Why did Steele limit his interview to black and white students,
omitting Asians and Hispanics?
- What does the author mean by the phrase the politics of difference?
- Steele points out a disparity between enrollment and graduation
rates at predominately black colleges as opposed to those same things
at predominately white colleges. What is this disparity?
- Explain the two paradoxes about black and white interaction that
Steele describes.
- Why does the author feel that it was his "very good fortune
to go to college in 1964"? What is especially significant about
that year?
STRATEGY AND STYLE - What is Steele's argument here? Outline his main points and types
of support for each in as much detail as you can.
- b. How did you picture Steele as you read this
essay? What specific cues from the essay helped you form the mental
image you did? (By the way, many of the links below will take you to
pages with photos of this author.)
- This essay first appeared in a magazine. Re-imagine it as an op-ed
piece for the New York Times. (Go to your library and read through
some copies if you're not familiar with the NYT.) What major
changes would you have to make?
- In paragraph eighteen Steele writes, "A black's problems have
a way of becoming a ‘black' problem." What work do the quotation
marks around the word black do? What would the sentence lose
without them?
- Steele mentions a list of support services, programs, and people
black students at university can approach for help. What is the point
of such an extensive list? He doesn't address the question head on,
but do you think that support was in place when he was a student? Explain.
| ENGAGING THE TEXT | - Recall a time someone made an assumption about you based upon your
outward appearance. How did it make you feel? What did you do about
it? How can you relate your feelings and reaction to your reading?
- Describe your impression of the interaction between blacks and
whites at your school. Does it differ as the place differs: from a particular
classroom to the cafeteria to a sorority house (or whatever your relevant
places are)? How might you link your impressions to this essay?
| SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING | - How can attempts to curtail hateful speech be reconciled with academic
freedom? Who should decide where to draw the line? Use your reading
and your own experiences in college to form your answer.
- What are the author's views about affirmative action? Explain as
carefully as you can, using specific evidence from your text.
| FOR FURTHER RESEARCH | Pick one of the campus racial incidents Steele mentions and research
it thoroughly. Write a report about it and answer the following questions:
Who were the key figures involved? What action was taken? By whom? Did
the initial action lead to any changes in the school's policies and procedures?
If so, what were they? If not, what do you think should have been
done? | WEB CONNECTION | Read this detailed review
of the Emmy-winning documentary film Seven Days in Bensonhurst, which
Steele wrote and narrated. What kinds of things did you learn about the
film from the review? What would necessitate viewing the film to find
out? Does your library have a copy? If not, how could you go about getting
one? | LINKS | Biographical This is Steele's homepage
at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he is a research
fellow. There, you'll find a photo of Steele, a biographical sketch,
and some links. This page
entitled "The Ethics of Affirmative Action" from the Markkula
Center for Applied Ethics contains biographical information about Steele.
Here's Steele's biography
from the PBS show Frontline's site. There, you'll find information
about Steele's relationship with that program, including the Emmy Award
he won, and some links.
Bibliographical Ready for some more of Steele's writing? Here's an article
he wrote for the Wall Street Journal called "White Guilt
= Black Power." This page also features a forum for discussion
of the piece. Here's an essay
from New Perspectives Quarterly called "Booker T. Washington
Was Right." Read the essay and answer this question: Right about
what? David Gergen of the PBS show Frontline conducted this interview
with Steele shortly after the publication of Steele's book A Dream
Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America.
Cultural Would you like to narrow a research topic regarding affirmative
action in the U.S.? This Google.com directory
should give you plenty of ideas. Here's an essay
making an argument that Steele should be president of Harvard University.
What do you make of the tone of this piece? What is "VDARE"? This page has
Steele's citation for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Which of
the other authors do you recognize on this page? How would you go about
finding out more about them?
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