I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent Blog

Shelby Steele's "I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent piece of writing is the first persuasive piece of literature I've ever read that is daring enough to include the reasoning behind racism in both black and white culture. I really liked Steele's analysis of both culture's because I believe there is always two sides to a story, in this case, racism. No matter what part of the world, country, or city you're from we have all experienced racism in some form. For those of you who think Steele's writing is ignorant, maybe you should check yourself for that exact claim. Steele is bold enough to make claims that white people have used our "innocence" as a form of power over mixed races, and wether we admit it or not we have over history, to me it's a form of passive aggressiveness. On the opposite, I have first hand experienced what it's like for a person from another race to use the racial card against me for no apparent reason, and that in itself is ignorant. So the issue does not come down to which culture is more racist, it's the individuals within races that tend to be. We should judge each other by our character not our color. There were some comments made in class, close to Ronald Reagan's quote in the article, that we as humans do not see the color of skin when we interact with one another, but the truth is we do, we wouldn't have the issue of racism or become defensive when it's brought up if we didn't people. Comparing the diffference of the color of our skin is an inevitable reaction, we just need to get past the preconceived notions that we have been surrounded with our entire lives. Another aspect that I enjoyed about Shelby Steele's piece is his use of the "I" voice. I know Chelsi doesn't prefer it, but it gave his writing a much more personal tone and it felt as though Steele owned his claims which I admire.