Racism Lives On
Shelby Steele’s Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized our Country attempts to address the historical reasons behind the rise of modern liberalism (primarily White moral guilt), which he believes is the primary driving force behind modern racial inequality, and why the freedom offered by conservatism is the answer.[1] Steele goes on to address what he believes is the reality for Black Americans(and what he on and off again conflates to all minorities) in America, that “you will be far more likely to receive racial preferences than to suffer racial discrimination.”[2] He reasons that this is evident by the way “Blacks have now risen to every level of American society, including the presidency” [3]. This, I think, is the crux of Steele’s argument, that racism is dead and that modern liberalism is redundant because it is essentially “protesting racism to people for whom it was already anathema”[4].
I appreciated Steele addressing the popularization of decrying racism that not only doesn’t cost anything, but enhances one’s position.[5] In certain spaces, it seems en vogue to do so. One such space is the local educational space. One large school district where I live boasts both a nondiscrimination policy and an equity advisory board along with many other DEI driven initiatives and trainings. And yet, in a school district where only 41% of the students are White[6], 71% of the employees are White[7] (a higher percentage when broken down further to differentiate between certified and classified staff). But those are just numbers. Anecdotally, I have a friend who is a woman of color and an educator in this school district. She, along with a white, male coworker were both temp workers for the year seeking guaranteed employment for the following year. She was told by administration that there were no openings and she would have to apply again. Later, she learned that her white, male coworker was told that he would be automatically hired on for the following year. This seemed to be despite the majority of their team advocating for my friend to be offered a job rather than her coworker. While my friend did not choose to bring a complaint to the district, her coworkers did. What was most striking was that her White, male, coworker who was offered the job agreed that it seemed wrong, but “he needed the job” so he stayed silent. This is a frustrating example of Steele’s Aspen prototype, someone for whom could reap the benefits of opposing racism with no risk to themselves.
What I found troubling about Steele was that he seems to have distilled all of modern liberalism down to this caricature of the young, White man that he encountered in Aspen. Interestingly, according to the Pew Research Center, only about 59% of democrat or democratic leaning voters were White compared to 81% of Republican or Republican leaning voters.[8] Recognizing that perhaps Democrat and modern liberalism are not the same, they are I believe, congruent. As such, it would have been helpful if Steele engaged more with why so many people of color align with and support liberal policies.
Additionally, while I found Steele’s personal anecdotes helpful and moving, I remain skeptical of the broader conclusion he draws that racism and the revolutionary mindset needed to fight it died in the 60s.[9] I am convinced, through my own experiences and those close to me, that racial discrimination and overt racism not only remains alive today, but is pervasive. According to the American Experiences with Discrimination Survey, almost 1 in 6 Asian-Americans experienced a hate crime or incident in 2021, with 1 in 3 Asian-Americans having experienced a hate crime or incident in their lifetime.[10] Even in the Moynihan study that he draws from, the vestiges of overt racism still rear its ugly head in the form of systemic racism.[11] For example, I’m curious why he never addresses the clear correlation between the increase in female-headed Black households with the initiation of the War on Drugs and similar policies that incarcerated Black men for possession and sales at a disproportionately high rate compared to their White counterparts.[12]. Meanwhile, systemic barriers that Asian-Americans face have more to do with our invisibility. For example, despite making up 7.7% of the U.S. population, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has only invested .17% of its budget on Asian-Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.[13] A quote from Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow seems appropriate: “….racial caste systems do not require racial hostility or overt bigotry to thrive. They need only racial indifference…”[14]
Lastly, avoiding extremes like the characterization of every person as either victim or victimizer[15] is paramount. There must be ways to continue to improve through dissent and disruption when it is appropriate[16] but ultimately, as Steele postulates, “today’s great divide comes from a shallowness of understanding.”[17] Just as I appreciated Steele’s personal anecdotes, learning from one another’s experiences rather than making sweeping conclusions could help foster understanding and alleviate the shame that plagues our nation.
[1] Shelby Steele, Shame : How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country (New York, New York: Basic Books, 2015), 8.
[2] Ibid, 16
[3] Ibid, 16
[4] Ibid, 10
[5] Ibid, 10
[6] “Enrollment and Demographics”, Oregon Department of Education, report posted 2/3/2022, https://www.hsd.k12.or.us/Page/5413.
[7] “Hillsboro School District Statistics and Demographics”, Zippia, Accessed 12/1/2022, tinyurl.com/yp6jhs72.
[8] “John Gramlich, “What the 2020 Electorate Looks Like by Party, Race and Ethnicity, Age, Education and Religion,” Pew Research Center, October 26, 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/26/what-the-2020-electorate-looks-like-by-party-race-and-ethnicity-age-education-and-religion/.
[9] Steele, Shame : How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country, 16
[10] Jennifer Lee and Karthick Ramakrishnan, “A Year After Atlanta”, AAPI Data, March 16, 2022, http://aapidata.com/blog/year-after-atlanta/.
[11] Steele, Shame : How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country, 22
[12] Rodney Stark, “Deviant Places: A Theory of the Ecology of Crime.” Criminology 25.4 (1987): 893-910.
[13] Alka M Kanaya, Ann W. Hsing, et al, “Knowledge Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities in Health and Prevention Research for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: A Report from the 2021 National Institutes of Healthy Workshop”, Annals of Internal Medicine 175, no. 4 (April 2022): 574-589, https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.7326/M21-3729.
[14] Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, (The New Press, 2012), 14.
[15] Steele, Shame : How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country, 16
[16] Ibid, 45
[17] Ibid, 20
About the Author
Caleb Lu
14 responses to “Racism Lives On”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Caleb,
I enjoyed reading your blog. You took this assignment ON! Thank you for contributing research to your blog.
I like this one point-
“avoiding extremes like the characterization of every person as either victim or victimizer[15] is paramount.”
This challenges me to think how things might be reframed. It would be wonderful to think and talk outside of the two extremes of victim and perpetrator.
Great blog Caleb
Kristy, thanks for your encouragement!
I think that there are some conversations that need to be had where someone is a victim and someone a perpetrator, and that’s not all they are! And yes perhaps it becomes easy to only use those extremes, which often seems to shutdown conversations.
Caleb, this is your best yet (and you’ve consistently written some good posts).
You brought to light a form of argument that Shelby consistently utilizes, but is not the most helpful, and that is using his experiences as anecdotal evidence of a broader truth. In our dialogues on polarizing issues, I think we’re all guilty of this. But your invitation at the end to instead hear one another out is a vital posture if we’re ever going to see progress in this conversation.
Thank you for sharing your insights my friend. I am grateful I get to learn from you.
David, thanks for the high praise, I’m always inspired by your thoughtful and well read blogs!
I actually really appreciated his stories and am a big believer in the importance of qualitative evidence. I’m just not sure he drew the right conclusions, or perhaps made some conclusions that seemed to be painted with too broad of strokes.
Love learning from you as well and grateful to be in the program together!
Caleb, as usual, your response to the reading is engaging and insightful. I so appreciate learning from you and hearing your perspective. I was struck by your comment, “I appreciated Steele addressing the popularization of decrying racism that not only doesn’t cost anything, but enhances one’s position.” How often do we portray a public image of caring about something, but only in a way that costs us nothing? It is easy to share or like a post on social media. I think of all the posts that read:
“So I’m going to make a challenge, I think less than half of my friends will put this on their wall. You just have to copy (not share). I want to know who I can count on. As soon as you do put done in the comments … Done”
We copy and share and feel good about ourselves for “doing something.” The reality is that we have done nothing. It is easy to take a stand that is not going to cost us anything, much harder when we actually have to take action. Do you have any suggestions for practical action steps we can take to make a difference?
What has been helpful for me (and something I’m still learning to do myself!) is how to make space for those whose voice isn’t often or easily heard. I think it’s helpful to elevate these voices on the margins because it gives power to people who have been powerless, it gives power to their story when it is heard, it gives power to their experiences when they’re seen, and it gives power to their identity when they’re known.
Caleb,
I so appreciated your post and agree with David that it is your best YET!
The statistics you shared about Asian-American hate crimes are staggering. What can we do?
Alana, thanks for your kind words! I’m not sure. It all seems kind of big and overwhelming to be honest. I’ll have to think on it a bit more!
Caleb,
What a marvelous dissection of the Steele’s book.
Something to ponder:
What is a biblical response to racism today? And as a follow up, how does one get the perceived victim and the perceived perpetrator to sit down to have the difficult race conversations?
Audrey, thanks for your kind words and your questions! In my own experience, I’ve found Christians to have differing views on what even constitutes racism which makes it difficult to talk about what a Biblical response looks like. Personally, I find that Biblical justice (which might be the right Biblical response to racism) is practical. John the Baptist preached that those with two tunics give to those with none for example. In terms of racism what that might look like is those with power give some to those who have none. That might look like giving different voices and cultures a say in what happens, elevating their voices and stories, or simply putting more POC in positions of leadership and power.
As far as how to get people to sit down and have that conversation, I’m not sure. It takes two people who are willing. And I think that’s why it’s so frustrating for those who are oppressed, because on some level, there’s no power to even begin the conversation. I think back on Dr. Scott’s presentation in Cape Town and how for her, she needed White grandfathers to open doors for her. That just seems to be the reality, that the perceived perpetrators often hold the power and if they don’t want to give any of it up, even just to have a face-to-face conversation, the perceived victim is in many ways powerless.
Caleb,
Your blog hit on many vital points about racism, particularly concerning Asian-Americans, that I am thankful you brought to light. Thank you for highlighting the current statistics as well, as these were left out of Steele’s book.
I loved how you ended your post, and agree whole-heartedly… we need to learn from one another to alleviate some of our nation’s shame.
Thank you for your well-written post!
Tonette, thank you, I’m so appreciative of your encouragement!
I applaud you for this post. I must admit that I read my own post and wrote more out of emotion than an academic perspective. I have to be more conscious of that next semester. I just could not wrap my head around this book at all.
Caleb,
Thank you for pointing out the research that was missing from Steel’s work I really appreciated the facts that you added to the story. This is so important to do when dealing with issues and facts. We learned that when reading the previous book about statistics. Having more than one source and sources from many angles is key to finding the best information.