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STEELE, SHELBY 1946-

PROFESSOR

The Rise of Black Conservatism

Conservatism made impressive gains in the United States during the 1980s, including the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, the rise of Protestant fundamentalism, and challenges to multiculturalism and feminism in academe. The decade also saw the rise to prominence of several black intellectuals who questioned liberal orthodoxy on such matters as racial preferences and affirmative action. One of the most articulate of such figures was Shelby Steele, a professor of English at San Jose State University in California.

Opportunity

Steele was born in Chicago and earned a doctorate in English from the University of Utah in 1974. During the late 1980s, however, he became known for his skillfully written articles on race in such periodicals as Harper's, Commentary, The American Scholar, and The New York Times Magazine. In these articles, and in many interviews, he dealt with such issues as black self-reliance, racism, white guilt, and affirmative action, arguing for black self-determination over preferences and claiming that the acceptance of the position of victims on the part of blacks kept them from seizing opportunities present in American society. While not denying the existence of racism, he downplayed its significance, insisting that blacks needed to return to a sense of self-reliance promoted by the civil rights movement and move beyond the well-intentioned but ultimately harmful policies that followed. Several of his essays were collected in The Content of Our Character; A New Vision of Race in America (1990).

Debate

Conservatives, both black and white, readily claimed Steele as one of their own, while black leaders and liberals often dismissed his views and implied that he had sold out to those who did not have the best interests of blacks at heart. In response Steele insisted that he was a liberal in the classic sense of the word, one who believed in individualism and personal freedom. Nevertheless, he identified with black conservatives such as Stanley Crouch and Thomas Sowell and supported the controversial nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The presence of such figures as well as his own, he said, was a healthy indication of diversity within the black community, which before the 1980s was often viewed as monolithic.