Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and Race

by Jean O'Malley Halley, Amy Eshleman, Ramya Mahadevan Vijaya

This interdisciplinary textbook challenges students to see race as everyone's issue. Drawing on sociology, psychology, history, and economics, Seeing White introduces students to the concepts of white privilege and social power. Seeing White is designed to help break down some of the resistance students feel in discussing race. Each chapter opens with compelling concrete examples to help students approach issues from a range of perspectives. The early chapters build a solid understanding of privilege and power, leading to a critical exploration of discrimination. Key theoretical perspectives include cultural materialism, critical race theory, and the social construction of race. Each chapter includes discussion questions to help students evaluate institutions and policies that perpetuate or counter forces of privilege and discrimination.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race

252 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was my introduction to learning about racial inequality. It helped me understand the origins of racial inequality and how it affects people. I did not realize the extent of the privilege I enjoy, but this helped me understand in a non-confrontational way. Recommended read, especially for other white people.

[Scott Ransom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important book and I'm really glad that I read it, especially since I'm most certainly its intended audience -- a very privileged (on almost every axis) white man. It describes very well the many ways that privilege affects almost every aspect of modern life, including many subtle ways that I had never considered. It also nicely describes the massive amount of almost invisible institutional racism that pervades our society, and how that resulted from centuries of imperialism and capitalism by our (mostly) white, European and then American forbears.

It is most certainly not a perfect book. It is highly repetitive and there are many examples of correlation equals causation, proof by anecdote, and appeals to authority. And the authors don't hide their political views and opinions on policy (which would be strongly debated by many other groups). But despite these flaws, it is effective and thought provoking, albeit often uncomfortable. It is definitely a worthwhile read -- especially for the us, the privileged whites.

[Thøger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, has an important message and I learned a lot of new stuff.
However, it has some weaknesses. The language is correct and not difficult to read, but incredibly boring, which makes it feel like assigned rather than interesting reading, even when the contents is actually interesting. I could also wish that it would spend a little less space repeating itself and instead get more in depth with the topics which are interesting, but mainly only have the surface scratched.

However, for the contents, I still recommend it highly for any white person ready to reflect a bit on their own position in Society; even though it is clearly written from a USA vantage point; people from other parts of the world still have a lot to learn from it.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and clear textbook which explains and defines concepts as it introduces them. The use of worked examples is helpful (although some readers might wish it was more explicit about its focus on the USA). The three authors draw on their personal experience and multiple disciplines (sociology, psychology, and economics) in a helpful way, and include materials which would make this easy to teach from or use for a study group, such as discussion questions.