Scan barcode
A review by deathcabforkatey
Good White People: The Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism by Shannon Sullivan
5.0
This book is one of the most transformative books on race that I (as a white woman) have read. I was introduced to this book my senior year of college in my Africana philosophy class. I read a couple chapters from the book for the class, and had the privilege to meet the author herself. She came to our class and discussed her thesis and specifically the chapters that we had read. Now, a year and a half later, I've finally read the whole thing and have had time to digest her thoughts more fully.
First of all, to all of you saying it is a dense book, yes. It's philosophy. And (I'm not trying to sound haughty) it's really less dense than the majority of philosophy I had to read in school. But yes, this is an academic book meant for an academic audience.
I think Sullivan is onto something extremely important in this book. She posits that there is a sickness with white middle-class anti-racism. And this is something I think many have observed in the post-Trump era. white middle-class anti-racism tries to pretend that racism is a lower-class problem. We try to deflect the blame away from us "good" white people and onto the "bad" white trash. However, especially in the post-Trump era, we have to confront the fact that Trump didn't win because of white trash. He won because of ALL white people. Racism continues not just because of white trash - it continues through the actions of "good" white people as well.
Sullivan's response to this is multifaceted. But in a nutshell, she (revolutionarily) challenges white people to confront their racist ancestry by embracing it, and fight racism not through hatred and guilt but through self-love. I find this argument compelling for many reasons. We, as white people, need to love ourselves enough to realize that racism needs to be taken care of on our side of the aisle. We can't paternalize minorities by telling them how to fix racism, and we also can't expect them to bear the burden. White people themselves need to concentrate on raising children as white allies, on fixing themselves and recognizing their own racism, and realize that racism is every white person's burden to bear.
It's easy to see how Sullivan can be misunderstood or twisted to fit racists conceptions of whiteness. I'd encourage any "good" white person to pick up this book with an open mind and to caution against defensiveness. Realize that her mission is to offer a solution to racism that moves away from white guilt and moves towards white reconciliation with its own evil. This book is worthy of a 15 page review that outlines each of the arguments but unfortunately I don't have the time. If you enjoy philosophy, and more specifically critical philosophy of race, this book will confront you. Especially if you are white, this book will make you uncomfortable. But fighting racism will not be comfortable, and Sullivan has helped me re-construct the way I think about my whiteness and how to accept my identity as white while fighting for racial justice.
First of all, to all of you saying it is a dense book, yes. It's philosophy. And (I'm not trying to sound haughty) it's really less dense than the majority of philosophy I had to read in school. But yes, this is an academic book meant for an academic audience.
I think Sullivan is onto something extremely important in this book. She posits that there is a sickness with white middle-class anti-racism. And this is something I think many have observed in the post-Trump era. white middle-class anti-racism tries to pretend that racism is a lower-class problem. We try to deflect the blame away from us "good" white people and onto the "bad" white trash. However, especially in the post-Trump era, we have to confront the fact that Trump didn't win because of white trash. He won because of ALL white people. Racism continues not just because of white trash - it continues through the actions of "good" white people as well.
Sullivan's response to this is multifaceted. But in a nutshell, she (revolutionarily) challenges white people to confront their racist ancestry by embracing it, and fight racism not through hatred and guilt but through self-love. I find this argument compelling for many reasons. We, as white people, need to love ourselves enough to realize that racism needs to be taken care of on our side of the aisle. We can't paternalize minorities by telling them how to fix racism, and we also can't expect them to bear the burden. White people themselves need to concentrate on raising children as white allies, on fixing themselves and recognizing their own racism, and realize that racism is every white person's burden to bear.
It's easy to see how Sullivan can be misunderstood or twisted to fit racists conceptions of whiteness. I'd encourage any "good" white person to pick up this book with an open mind and to caution against defensiveness. Realize that her mission is to offer a solution to racism that moves away from white guilt and moves towards white reconciliation with its own evil. This book is worthy of a 15 page review that outlines each of the arguments but unfortunately I don't have the time. If you enjoy philosophy, and more specifically critical philosophy of race, this book will confront you. Especially if you are white, this book will make you uncomfortable. But fighting racism will not be comfortable, and Sullivan has helped me re-construct the way I think about my whiteness and how to accept my identity as white while fighting for racial justice.