Shelby Steele: Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference (1990)
Stewart Gardner
Introduction
Shelby Steele (1946-) is Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He studies race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action, with particular attention to the social-psychological effects of race relations and actions designed to improve them.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- What are the social and psychological effects of Affirmative Action on black Americans, in Steele’s view?
- What does he think about the character of perfect social justice?
- Why does Steele think that action to aid those in poverty would be more effective than racial preference?
Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference – Shelby Steele
Source: Steele, S. (1990). Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference [Essay excerpt]. What So Proudly We Hail. https://www.whatsoproudlywehail.org/curriculum/the-american-calendar/affirmative-action-the-price-of-preference/
