Topic: Voting Rights Act 1965

1 chapters across the catalog

12: White Guilt
34:27 - 37:35

12: White Guilt

Civil Rights Legislation and the Mirror of Television

Shelby Steele describes the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act as moments where America morally came to terms with its past. The hosts argue that this "national reflection" was actually driven by the advent of television. They posit that seeing violent images of segregation on screen created a sense of public shame and guilt that forced legislative change.