Men of Steele

After a short hiatus, we are back with Take Back Our Schools. Welcome Back!

On this episode, Beth and Andrew speak with the powerhouse father-son team of Shelby and Eli Steele about race relations in America. Both Shelby and Eli share their views on the recent Claudine Gay affair at Harvard University and give their opinions on whether this event marks a turning point in the fight against the diversity, equity and inclusion regime. Shelby talks about his own upbringing and his family’s experience in the Civil Rights movement and remarks upon why the Civil Rights movement went wrong. He talks about how the idea of “white guilt” plays a prominent role in today’s obsession with identity. Shelby also shares his strong views on the similarities between how victimhood is used by race hustlers in the black community and with the ongoing events in Israel and with Hamas. Eli talks about why he, as a part black, part Jewish and hearing impaired man, thoroughly rejects identity politics and victimhood. Eli also discusses the documentary he is currently making with his father, “White Guilt.”

Shelby Steele is the Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow (adjunct) at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. He has written widely on race in American society and the consequences of contemporary social programs on race relations. Shelby 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 (HarperCollins, 1998). Other books by Steele include Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country (Basic Books, 2015), A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win (Free Press, 2007), White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era (HarperCollins, 2006) and A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America (HarperCollins, 1998). Shelby is also a member of the National Association of Scholars, the national board of the American Academy for Liberal Education, the University Accreditation Association, and the national board at the Center for the New American Community at the Manhattan Institute.

Eli Steele is an award-winning filmmaker and “What Killed Michael Brown?” marked his first professional collaboration with his father, Shelby Steele. A graduate of Claremont McKenna College and Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy, Steele’s career highlights include “How Jack Became Black,” “What’s Bugging Seth,” winner of ten film festivals, and “Katrina,” an MTV Network pilot which won him the Breakthrough Filmmakers Award. Steele has written for publications ranging from LA Times to Commentary Magazine.

A transcript of this program can be downloaded here.