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Terrorism and White Guilt

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"Today the First World is dealing with an embarrassed Third World that is driven to save face against the anguish of an inferiority that is less and less blamable on others," writes Shelby Steele in the Wall Street Journal. According to Steele, "white guilt" makes some in the West feel responsible for the plight of the Third World. The argument goes that it was through colonialism and slavery that the First World got to where it is. Steele dismisses this notion, saying that terrorism is the frustration of people who can't take responsibility for their own lives. Should the West feel guilty for its prosperity while much of the rest of the world lives in poverty?

Guests:

Shelby Steele, research fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of "A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America"

This program aired on October 24, 2001.

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