In the post civil rights-era there was a push for continuous assimilation and, as a result, some black individuals aligned themselves with the conservative movement and accepted the idea of a color-blind society. In his book, "The Content of Our Character", Shelby Steele offers an interpretation of the color-blind society ideology and why people should accept it. He claims that during slavery, black individuals were forced to cling to their black identities in order to build community and have since mistakenly clung to that same rhetoric under the impression that it is still the most valuable tool to excel. He argues that this is dangerous because it frames black individuals as victims and “pulls into war-like defensiveness at a time where there is more opportunity for development than ever before." The idea was that if black individuals ceased to see themselves as victims of oppressive forces, then they could be seen as equals to their white counterparts.