"Obama's bid for so high an office pushes...(race)...to a more abstract level...(of)...a politics of guilt and innocence...Steele writes of how Obama is caught between...(the)...postures...(of)...bargaining and challenging. Bargainers...say, I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me. Challengers do the opposite...charg(ing) whites with inherent racism...then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies like affirmative action and diversity. Steele maintains that Senator Obama is too constrained by these elaborate politics to find his own true political voice..."
"Although Shelby Steele’s substantial intellect is on display in this book...(m)uch of his views are valid for a biracial intellectual conservative growing up in...Chicago in the 1950’s...and not...for a biracial intellectual liberal growing up in...Honolulu and Indonesia in the late 60's & the 70's...This is a book explaining why Shelby Stelle feels he is a bound man."
"Shelby Steele is a smart man. But I think he is trapped in the politics of his time...(T)he reader must agree with Steele's theory that Obama is conflicted or "bound" by having to choose between what Steele draws as either the "compliant black man," or the "angry black man." Neither is true, neither does justice to either Obama's political instincts or intelligence. And it is the opposite of...reality...Obama enjoys widespread support among white...and...black Americans who have evolved past Steele's expectations..."
link:headbang:
rocknationP.S. I'm willing to bet the that subtitle was his EDITOR'S afterthought.