A Bound Man, Shelby Steele
A Bound Man, Shelby Steele
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A Bound Man
Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win

Author: Shelby Steele

Narrator: Richard Allen

Unabridged: 3 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/22/2008


Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling and controversial author Shelby Steele comes an illuminating examination of the complex racial issues that confront presidential candidate Barack Obama in his race for the White House, a quest that will be one of those galvanizing occasions that forces a national dialogue on the current state of race relations in America.

Steele argues that Senator Obama is caught between two classic postures that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargaining and challenging. Bargainers strike a "bargain" with white America in which they say, "I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me." Bill Cosby's sitcom in the 1980s was the classic example of bargaining. Obama also sends "bargaining" signals to white America, and whites respond with considerable gratitude—which explains the special aura of excitement that surrounds him.

But in order to garner the black vote—which is absolutely necessary for victory in the primaries and the general election—Obama must also posture as a challenger. Challengers are the opposite of bargainers. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies, such as affirmative action. If whites go along with this—thereby proving their innocence—they are granted absolution by the black challenger.

The current black American identity is grounded in challenging. Obama must therefore posture as a challenger to win the black vote. However, challenging threatens Obama's white support. But bargaining threatens his black support. Thus, he is bound. He walks in an impossible political territory where any expression of what he truly feels puts him in jeopardy with one much-needed constituency or another. Only a kind of two-sided political mask, or an "above politics" posture, keeps the wolves at bay.

About Shelby Steele

Shelby Steele is the Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. He was appointed a Hoover fellow in 1994. Steele has written widely on race in American society and the consequences of contemporary social programs on race relations.

Steele is the author of White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era and A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America, in which he argues that too much of what has been done since the Great Society in the name of black rights has far more to do with the moral redemption or self-satisfaction of whites than with any real improvement in the lives of blacks. Steele has also written extensively for major publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and he is a contributing editor at Harper's magazine. He has spoken before hundreds of groups and has appeared on Nightline and 60 Minutes.

In 2006, Steele received the Bradley Prize for his contributions to the study of race in America. In 2004, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 1991, his work on the documentary Seven Days in Bensonhurst was recognized with an Emmy Award and two awards for television documentary writing-the Writer's Guild Award and the San Francisco Film Festival Award. Steele received the National Book Critic's Circle Award in 1990 in the general nonfiction category for his book The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America.


Reviews

Goodreads review by mark

This book was meant to be a caveat towards electing Barack Obama president. It is an honest look at the challenge of being a prosperous black man in American society. (Perhaps the author, Shelby Steele, acclaimed author and Fellow from Stanford University, also "black & white"; is envious, who knows......more

Goodreads review by Todd

A surprisingly good book about the psychology of Barack Obama and of race relations in America. This book provides a clear understanding about why minorities refuse to move beyond their victim-hood mindset into the more powerful mindset of self determination. I have never understood Barack Obama or......more

Goodreads review by Hank

Author lays out an interesting framework for understanding, and more importantly predicting, public behavior. Most impressive that it was written while Obama was running for office and predicted well his behavior when push came to shove on this issue during his second term.......more

Goodreads review by Jerry

Very good.......more