A dream deferred

In this text, Shelby Steele argues that a second betrayal of black freedom in the United States emerged from the civil rights era when the country was overtaken by a powerful impulse to redeem itself from the racial shame.

According to Steele, 1960s liberalism hass as its first and all-consuming goal the expiation of American guilt rather than the careful development of true equality between the races.

In four forceful essays, Steele takes on the familiar questions of affirmative action, multiculturalism, and diversity.