“Courage Not Guilt”

“Courage Not Guilt” is the inscription that Dr. Shelby Steele wrote in my copy of his recently released work, White Guilt. The occasion was a talk and book signing at the Capitola Book Café.

Dr. Steele’s well thought out thesis skewers the liberal/leftist agenda begun with Pres. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society,” which has resulted in doing what slavery and segregation could never do: the development of governmental and institutional systems which encourage the destruction of the black family and the creation of a black underclass. All of this was made possible by the disassociation of whites from the stigma of historical slavery and segregation in order to not feel guilty. The end result is that liberals “do not feel guilty,” but they “act guiltily.” Hence, the term “white guilt.”

Capitola is a small town appending to the city of Santa Cruz and within a leftist sphere of influence no doubt the result of its proximity to the University of California at Santa Cruz. As Dr. Steele could well have articulated, Capitola is snuggled deeply within a white guilt zone.

There were approximately 60 people in attendance to hear Dr. Steele, an articulate and mannerly speaker. Those who engaged in a dialogue with Dr. Steele were also generally articulate and varied in support of, or in opposition to, Dr. Steele’s thesis. There was, however, a general undercurrent of discontent within the room. If the number of people who purchased his book was any indication, approximately 15 in number, Dr. Steele’s assertions were not well received.

As Dr. Steele explained, the “Great Society’s” goals were well intentioned but fatally flawed by what is properly a white supremacist attitude: blacks are not capable of bringing themselves to a competitive level and they must be helped by whites. Dr. Steele said that the programs might have worked if blacks had been required to do anything on their own behalf. But, they were not, and they are not yet today.

Many in the Capitola crowd were undoubtedly uncomfortable with the mirror that Dr. Steele held up for them. They could not accept the fact that it is they who are the racists and not conservatives. Dr. Steele asserted that a great portion of Americans are growing tired of the race lie. Accordingly, Dr. Steele stated that Fox News, which he characterized as a “White Guilt Free Zone,” is highly successful. That got an audible exclamation of disgust from a couple of the members of the crowd. One lady proclaimed, “Not here!”

Courage! Indeed it takes courage to stand up against an elitist crowd of self-righteous advocates of the liberal/leftist racial mantra. But, Dr. Steele had no trouble walking into the den of the leftists. He has been to the Capitola Café previously, and there is no doubt that he knew what his reception was likely to be. He surely knew that most of those in attendance would not accept his thesis from anyone, much less a black man. I can just imagine that some of those leftists are scratching their heads in confusion and muttering how it can be that this black man, to whom so much has been provided by leftist policies, could bite the hand that feeds him. After all, how could he have gotten where he is in life if it were not for the help of white liberals? In fact, after the talk one particularly angry male was overheard questioning whether or not Dr. Steele actually held any scholarly degrees or published any scholarly papers. And, they think that they are not white supremacists!

The problem is that these are intelligent people. They have political power that translates to public policy. Policies that have done much more damage and are far more dangerous than the ignorant white supremacists who march around in white sheets or sporting the Swastika.