A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America

Fromtheauthoroftheaward-winningbestseller"TheContentofOurCharacter"comesanewessaycollectionthattellstheuntoldstorybehindthepolarizedracialpoliticsinAmericatoday.In"ADreamDeferred"ShelbySteelearguesthatasecondbetrayalofblackfreedomintheUnitedStates--thefirstonebeingsegregation--emergedfromthecivilrightserawhenthecountrywasovertakenbyapowerfulimpulsetoredeemitselffromracialshame.AccordingtoSteele,1960sliberalismhadasitsfirstandall-consuminggoaltheexpiationofAmericaguiltratherthanthecarefuldevelopmentoftrueequalitybetweentheraces.This"cultureofpreference"betrayedAmerica'sbestprinciplesinordertogivewhitesandAmericainstitutionsaniconographyofracialvirtuetheycoulduseagainstthestigmaofracialshame.Infourdenselyarguedessays,Steeletakesonthefamiliarquestionsofaffirmativeaction,multiculturalism,diversity,Afro-centrism,grouppreferences,victimization--andwhathedeemstobetheatavisticpowersofrace,ethnicity,andgender,theoriginalcausesofoppression."ADreamDeferred"isanhonest,courageouslookattheperplexingdilemmaofraceanddemocracyintheUnitedStates--andwhatwemightdotoresolveit.