Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories

by Eddie Moore Jr. (Editor), Marguerite W. Penick-Parks (Editor), Ali Michael (Editor)

While we are all familiar with the lives of prominent Black civil rights leaders, few of us have a sense of what developing a White antiracist identity entails. Few of us can name the White activists who joined the struggle against discrimination, let alone understand the complexities, stresses, and contradictions of doing this work while benefiting from the privileges they enjoyed as Whites.

This book fills that gap by vividly presenting the personal stories, experiences, and reflections of 15 prominent White antiracists. The contributors recount the circumstances that led them to undertake this work, describe key moments and insights about their journeys and frankly admit their continuing lapses and mistakes. They make it clear that confronting oppression (including their own prejudices) is a lifelong process of learning.

This is an eye-opening book for anyone who wants to understand what it means to be White together with the reality of what is involved in becoming a White antiracist and social justice advocate; is interested in the paths taken by those who have gone before; and wants to engage reflectively and critically in this difficult and important work.

Genres: Race, Social Justice, Nonfiction, Anti Racist, Book Club, Sociology, Short Stories

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Jes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read, but the quality of the individual contributions was uneven and none of the essays were really long enough to dig into the issues presented. The Peggy McIntosh essay is superb and a couple of the other essays made me want to read more of those writers’ works. I think this would work well as an intro text for White undergrads who are just beginning to grapple with these questions (I would’ve appreciated some of these essays at age 19, 20, 21), but I was hoping for a more concrete, substantive discussion of what anti-racist practice actually looks like in the day-to-day lives of White professionals.

[Caroline Lampinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eddie Moore Jr. Made a case for this book when I met him at a conference, an experienced black man advising a newly awakened white woman, telling me something in the vein of 'white people need role models, that's why this book exists' - this book is that.
In social justice work, and devouring media and news, it's easy to get stuck just processing what is happening, and to be lost in the depression, weight, and guilt of being white- this book is a strong antidote of white people saying "yes, and...Get over it!" But also sharing: here's how I got over it, and we will keep failing but MUST keep working (particularly white people with other white people). It was refreshing and empowering and an important read.
It's also excellent to have a series of essays told from unique perspectives as the format is easy to pick up.

My favorite part might be the blunt foreword, which tells, "Privilege begets privilege, and a book full of the voices of relatively well-known white people talking about their racial justice activism should be understood as evidence of this at least as much as it is understood to be a response to it."

Highly recommend!

[Maryc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots to refer back to in this one. Bought it at the White Privilege Conference at Drake and finally read it.

[Lisa Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this book

15 different authors, most of whom would qualify as "older" share their journeys in social justice. I imagine each reader comes from a unique place, and thus needs different perspectives. There are some good nuggets in here, but I'd say read the book to learn about some folks just steps ahead of you.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book disappointing. I am an admirer of many of the activist in this book, but these essays seem quickly written and slapped together. Better to just read original works by the various authors.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I don't doubt this book is full of important knowledge and experiences I found it hard to relate to for several reasons.

Firstly, as a young person the book felt very dated to me and I was surprised to read it had been published in 2015 and not 1995. I don't think it reflects the modern-day anti-racism movement and I know considering it's reflecting on people's journeys fighting anti-racism over the past hundred years or so that might not seem odd but I did find it disengaging as a lot of what they discussed wasn't as relevant anymore. There was no mention of social media or the rising activism in young people which I think was a big mistake. These people are at the front of the movement and have so much invaluable advice that would definitely make younger people more engaged.

In line with that I found it difficult to relate to a lot of the people as they were all old American academics and the majority were middle class. Academia is of course important but again I don't think it reflects the future of the movement. It would've been nice to hear people who weren't from academic backgrounds talk about the ways they got into anti-racism and ways they're creating change as to me those experiences are far more impactful. Especially the youths of the movement who are creating the biggest waves and to exclude them felt a bit ageist.

Also related to the outdated nature of the book I would have liked to hear more about anti-racism in different contexts e.g. different people of colour such as Native Americans, Latinos and Asians. They tended to just focus on anti-racism in the context of black people which for a book very focused on intersectionality felt very one-note to me. Again I think this is a product of the advice coming from an older generation of people and so at the time they were doing their anti-racism work people of colour largely just meant black people. Having younger authors or even just people from different walks of life would've broadened up the scope of the book and added this element.

I also found that the book claimed to give helpful advice to white people on their anti-racism journey that was never really fulfilled. The majority of the chapters were more autobiographical and described their lives and backgrounds. While they did discuss some of the pitfalls they fell into there was no real advice on how to get out of them apart from "push through it" which isn't too helpful. I was hoping more for stories of white people who hit brick walls and how they managed to keep going but there wasn't really any of that.

In essence it felt the book was written by old middle-class white academics for old middle-class white academics. While reading about their experiences was nice as a young white British working-class woman I found I couldn't relate to their experiences and so it wasn't very useful to me. Instead of reading this book I would recommend white people read "Me and White Supremacy" by Layla F Saad as that is an excellent book for white people on their anti-racism journey and has actual concrete steps a person can take to overcome setbacks and hurdles.

[Diana Lebeaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may be a good starting point for a white person looking to better understand how to contribute to the fight against racism, but it’s not a particularly helpful or deep read for someone looking to go further- to deepen their learning, learn about impacts of racism, or get practical ideas.

There were a couple of good pieces, but most were not. Honestly, Gorski’s introduction was one of the few high points.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of essays written by individuals who have devoted most of their lives to working for antiracism and other social injustice issues. Their stories are interesting and inspiring. As with any collection of this type, some of the essays are stronger and more engaging than others but as a whole it is still a very significant body of writing.

[Jennifer Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven. Just finished it, and my current impression is it was heavy on the history lessons / origin stories, with a couple forward-looking reflections on intersectionalities of oppression and on whiteness at the end. I’d have preferred the balance shifted the other way.

[Liane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading this throughout the summer with my book group. Each essay describes how that author came to their social justice work. Some are more compelling than others, but nearly all of them have valuable insights to consider for oneself.

[Kim Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does it say something about how thoroughly wrapped up I must be in my white privilege that I'm amazed this book came out 5 years ago and contains autobiographical chapters by boomers? Food for thought.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. Some essays were better than others. Some were exactly what I was thinking the whole collection would look like (and they were fabulous) and some were just meh. Overall it's a good resource and has lots of references for further reading.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excepting the too lengthy foreword and introduction this book is quite good. It is exactly what it purports - everyday people recounting their awakening to their own and society’s structural racism.

[Andrea Brinkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry but this was just a big snooze for me. It felt like a bunch of woke White folk patting themselves on the back.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always with a book of essays, some resonated for me more than others, but a worthwhile read.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent compilation of works by anti-racist white role models detailing their stories, missteps, and lessons learned along the way. The introduction by Paul Kivel is appropriately sobering, however, as he says "I urge you, as a reader, to not see us as people to be celebrated or emulated. Nothing is that simple. Instead, learn from our challenges and reluctances so that you might catch yourself following those lead and decide instead to quicken your pace." An important addition to any racial justice library.

[Emily F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Less of an instruction manual, though certainly a call to action, this series of essays introduces us to different white people who are involved in the fight against racial and social injustice in a variety of ways. I deeply appreciated their insight and their willingness to share their stories. It was humbling and helpful to have the reminder that these are enormous issues, everybody's gonna blunder at some point or another, and we all just have to keep working.

I am grateful to have gotten a snippet of each of these authors' voices, and look forward to reading more of their works.

[Amber Dyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays in this book are quality reads, occasionally even inspiring.

I am, however, baffled by the title, which is at best unintentionally misleading. How does this collection of writers, all of whom have dedicated their lives to social justice work, represent “everyday“ white people? …have you met white people? Obviously, if more white people would show up as allies, on the level that these authors do, the world would be a better place; however, both the title and the scholarly tone are potentially alienating and discouraging to white people who are just setting out on their antiracism journey.

I bought this book because, based on the title, I thought it would be good to read with my mom (read: boomer) as a continuation of our conversations about race, which have been challenging (I imagine many aspiring white allies with boomer parents can relate). Not to make excuses for myself, had I given it more than a cursory once over, I would have known this wasn’t the right starter book for her. And, not to make excuses for my mom, (who needs to keep doing her own work), she couldn’t relate to any of the POV’s the book presents and she felt stupid that she didn’t understand the (often dry and very academic) material that was being presented as “everyday,” ie, relatable.

Yes, I do want to live in a world where the everyday white experience reflects the allyship and activism in this book, but we’re not there yet and in my opinion, the misleading way this book is titled has the potential to push newly awakening allies further from that goal.

On to the next.

[Marcela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after hearing Dr. Moore Jr. speak at my library recently. As 1st generation Brazilian immigrant, I'm locked out from the highest echelons of the White hierarchy; however, as for all light-skinned Latin Americans, I do benefit from an enormous amount of white privilege due to an ability to "pass" until we reveal ourselves (often to the response, "oh, I thought you were White").

So in many ways, the insights in this book really resonated for me, as an "off-white" person, as one contributor self-identifies. In other ways, my childhood experiences as a young immigrant were pretty different from those of the writers, so this book is perhaps not quite aimed at me (and, I think, could have benefited from a more diverse swatch of White voices, if that makes any sense).

Still, I found much to relate to, learn from, and a lot of further reading to explore from here. Definitely recommended as an introduction to social justice work for every "good White liberal" out there.