Mindful of Race: Understanding and Transforming Habits of Harm

by Ruth King

In a moment of racial tension, have you ever tried to simply “shrug off?” your outrage? Or put on a pleasant face so that others wouldn’t feel uncomfortable? Or dared to take a stand—only to find that it inflamed the situation? With Mindful of Race, Ruth King offers another option:

To tend first to our suffering, listen to what it is trying to teach us, and direct its energies most effectively for change.

Drawing on her expertise as both a meditation teacher and diversity consultant, King supports readers of all backgrounds with an abundance of insights and guided practices to help us identify our misperceptions, honor and engage with our most challenging emotions, temper them with compassionate forgiveness, and find the optimal course of wise action.

Genres: Race, Nonfiction, Anti Racist, Social Justice, Buddhism, Self Help, Spirituality

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

Ruth King is an international teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition, and an emotional wisdom author and life coach. She is on the Teacher's Council at Insight Meditation Community of Washington and Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is the founder of Mindful Members Insight Meditation Community in Charlotte, NC.

In former years, King managed training and organizational development divisions at Levi Strauss and Intel corporations where she designed diversity awareness programs and consulted to leaders on cultural change initiatives, including the behavioral implications of mergers and acquisitions. A world traveler, King’s work has been influenced by many cultures, and is often described as “ceremony.” Her intuitive methods, knowledge, and skills weave the fields of Western psychology, Buddhist philosophy, leadership development, mindfulness meditation, and fun!

Currently recognized as a trainer of trainers and consultant to consultants, King teaches the Mindful of Race Training and Facilitation programs, which blends mindfulness principles and meditation with an exploration of our racial conditioning, its impact, and our potential. Both dynamic and compassionate, King speaks to the heart of her audiences with authenticity and joy.

King has a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA, and is the author of several publications including Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible and Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out. Review other influences here.

King, heart activist, African American, and native Californian, living over 25 years in the Bay Area, currently resides in Charlotte, NC, with life partner, Dr. Barbara Riley, and cat, Mr. Socks.

Reviews

[Chanequa Walker-Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth King invites readers into a different way of engaging in antiracist dialogue and racial justice activism. Drawing from her years of experience as a Buddhist practitioner and diversity trainer, she approaches antiracist activism as work of the heart. She adapts classical mindfulness practices to justice work.

This is one of the core texts that I’m using in the Race, Racisms, & Reconciliation course that I’m teaching this semester. We’ll be starting and ending our semester by discussing how to embark on this journey in ways that foster the just society we envision and that sustain us for advocacy and activism in the long haul.

[Reading Badger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book with a documentation on its subject. What I really expected from this lecture was to learn to be a better person. And Ruth King, this amazing world traveler succeeded on teaching her readers about racism and the cruel racial inequality.

A gifted teacher to learn from so many about this world

The book itself talks about many aspects, but its central message is how you can clean yourself of the negativity caused by racial conflicts. The greatest thing about this book is Ruth King’s way of writing.
See all the review here: https://readingbadger.club/2018/12/05...

Once you read this paperwork, you will find out more about compassion and how to show it in this society. You can also learn about going through difficult relationships and behaviors, but mostly about "Racism as a heart disease" that can be cured.

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explores a distressing topic—interpersonal and institutional racism—in a unique way: by inviting us to sit with our distress, cultivating equanimity and wisdom as we choose a mindful response. While I personally doubt I have the patience to carry out the detailed meditation practices King describes (though who knows, maybe that makes me the perfect candidate for them?), I appreciate the insights that nothing in life is “personal, permanent, or perfect,” that suffering can be a teacher, and that cultivating compassion toward all is as important as (and perhaps is an important precursor to) advocating any particular public policy. The section that resonates most deeply with me is Chapter 17 Artistry: Cultural Medicine, in which King reminds us, via the words of Jane Hirshfield, that “‘We make art...partly because our lives are ungraspable, uncarryable, impossible to navigate without it....Art allows us to find a way to agree to suffering, to include it and not be broken, to say yes to what actually is, and then to say something further, something that changes and opens the heart, the ears, the eyes, the mind.’”

[Victoria Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of compassion, practical wisdom and practises. I've found it helpful on a personal level, as well as for informing my approach to dialogue.

[Elite Group · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Mindful of Race is a life changing experience leading to positive transformation.

Ruth King’s Mindful of Race will take you to a deeper level of understanding racism and oppression. It does not stop there however, if you are open she leads you to a new place and a new mindful life. Yet, it is absolutely not easy to read her book Mindful of Race because you have to be prepared for a deep and critical self awareness journey. Sometimes it is not pleasant to critically look at your own prejudices and taught assumptions that need re-considering for a new way of thinking, feeling and behaving.

I believe there is a way to read Mindful of Race. Reading time with this book must be planned because it needs to be read in a meditative and open frame of mind. It is a book that you cannot just pick up where you left off the last time.

I suggest reading the book once slowly and then go back to it with the purpose of using the tools and guidelines she provides as a means of transformation. Ruth knows her tools and guidelines are not always easy to work through and implement so she gently provides solutions. To quote Ruth King: “Over time, this practice becomes a habit of healing replacing habits of harm.” She gets us to “check our inner experience.” She understands the difficult conversations we will have when we enter into a life which is “Mindful of Race.”

Thank you for writing this book Ruth King. My heart is soaring with new mindful ways of being.

BonnieK

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

[Laura Greenfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book and successful in achieving its aims. My worry is that I know white people who would read this book as an excuse to avoid addressing systemic racism and instead boil it down to mastering their individual feelings of compassion without attention to the structural changes needed to dismantle racism independent of their good intentions. It would be great if there were a bit more contextual framing to ward of that misreading.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook pretty quickly and I'm not sure I absorbed everything so my review may not do it justice.

I really liked the concept of this book: using Buddhist principles and meditation practices to engage in inner and outer anti-racism work. King writes with great heart about her topic. I think one of its most useful contributions for me was its discussion of coming to understand our racial group identities.

One thing about the book that I felt was perhaps less helpful was that unlike, for example, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, to which the book bears certain similarities (although it's much gentler in its approach and wrapped in a spiritual package) it isn't specifically directed at Black folks or white folks. Although she gives some examples of how certain ideas or exercises could be used differently by different groups of people, I felt more examples could have been helpful. A lot of the book focused on healing our racial suffering, but that looks very different for Black folks, for Indigenous folks, for other groups of people of colour, than it does for white folks. It's not that King is saying it looks the same, but at times, because she's giving the same advice, it may be unclear to some readers how to apply this to their own situation. My concern is that white folks may misinterpret and re-centre whiteness and their own suffering and sit around navel gazing with their "racial affinity group" and not really challenge themselves to look at their own complicity in BIPOC's suffering, and focus less on the action piece of this book. This is especially the case since I suspect King's audience is primarily white folks who may be more inclined to want to just "send love and light out into the universe" rather than have hard conversations with their racist friends or yoga teacher or boss, or rather than going to an anti-racism march and put their bodies on the line to protect Black folks from police brutality.

I think that it was a good entry point, however, especially for spiritual folks who may connect with her approach better, and end up becoming more aware of themselves as "racial beings," and what that means in the world.

To be clear, King also explains at the beginning of the book a lot of the history of racism in the US and the ways race is constructed and embedded on a structural level, but I still think that might get lost for some people in the focus on inner work in the rest of the book. This might be a good starting point for some people in anti-racism work, but probably shouldn't be the only book they read on racism.

[Katie Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't mean to be dramatic, but if this were required reading for all humans, we'd probably get as close to world peace as we're ever gonna get.

"This book was not intended to be inspirational, motivational, or even upbeat. Rather, it's a stimulus offering mature reflection that ripens our capacity to bear the truth of racial suffering more wisely--to look, feel, understand, create, and serve. Such a balanced response is hard work, necessary work, and healing work--both messy and miraculous." -Ruth King

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one for work as part of our continuing work in ensuring an equitable work environment for everyone. This was a very thoughtful and gentle book that takes both white people and people of color through ways of handling the stress of discussing race and dealing with racism. It was very eye-opening for me in regards to individual vs group think. Lots of things to continue to think about and to work on.

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book with so much insight. The topic is heavy and I had to read it in spurts. I took a lot of notes, highlighted and tabbed pages with info I was reference back to.
There are three things that really stuck out to me in the book.
1. King's interaction with a women who was trying to understand her frustration with Trump.
2. King's story on how to talk to kids about race and what the history of white people is with slavery, etc.
3. That being a white is a race - meaning when I am in convos with people who talk about their heritage, ethnic background, diversity, etc...I feel I don't have anything to add because I am simply white - but, there is more to it than that and we (white people) need to look at our history and see what is there and learn more and understand it.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful and thought provoking from several aspects related to how whites identify themselves, how we all need to respond to one another and tools for mindfulness to help us live when uncomfortable in a situation. Lots and lots of information and tools shared. Read this for book club and really enjoyed the discussion with others afterward. Plus, the most underlining I have ever done with a book.

[Julie Capell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every white person in the US should read this book. Absolutely essential information here for healing ourselves, our communities and our country. Actionable advice on nearly every page, which I am putting into practice on a daily basis. I am quite sure this is a book I will return to over and over.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read !

[Joanna Hagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me awhile to get through because I’m not very into mindfulness but it ended up teaching me so much

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another outstanding book from my meditation teacher training. Highly recommended.

[Katelyn Jackman · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote King "This book was not intended to be inspirational, motivating, or even upbeat. Rather it's a stimulus offering mature reflection that ripens our capacity to bear the truth of racial suffering more wisely". This book challenged me in all the best ways. I'm grateful for King's eye-opening writing and the opportunity this book posed for me to grow.

[Analouise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much-needed book. King doesn't jump into mindfulness discussions but first sets the stage by offering a succinct history of race in the U.S. and a realistic discussion of a few key differences between how people of color and white people experience identity (especially individual v. collective identity). She offers useful mindfulness strategies that can assist us in addressing and healing from racism. I look forward to assigning this book to my students!

[Lance Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many of us are enmeshed in this discussion of racism that sits at the heart of American culture and sit with so much pain and frustration about how to reconcile it, how do we heal, and how do we move forward. In this context, King's book is a Godsend! She breaks the book into three parts which she frames around the metaphor of diagnosis (of heart problems), heart surgery, and recovery. It's a useful framing device that allows her to help readers to first identify the problem of racism and its effects throughout our lives. In this section, she helps lay a strong foundation for anyone to understand how so many in the US experience racism differently and particularly, why white folks don't see the problem while so many people of color do in a way that is enlightening without putting white people on the defensive. In the second section, she lays out how a meditation practice can help each person come to terms what it means to be part of a race in a racialized world wherein one group has traditionally dominated. She provides various approaches to the meditation practice so that people can find the best approach that will work for them in trying to unpack all the mixed emotions and energy that they consciously or unconsciously put into their racial experiences. Finally, the third part moves from the internal to the external in helping readers cultivate meaningful practices of engaging with others with and across races to address, discuss, and where possible mend the anger, frustration, and pain that racism has caused so many people in the world. In total, King provides such an accessible book and contemplation the topic of race that it provides a bit more hope and substantial guidance on the "what can I do about it?" that many people express as they come up against racism. That all being said, the one caveat that I would give with this book is that it is not a "one and done" kind of book but one that is essentially a toolbox in a book and readers should be prepared to revisit it regularly to inform their mental and spiritual development as they address racism in their own minds and lives.

[Thomas DeWolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful, essential book for everyone committed to undoing racism. Having been involved for more than a decade with Coming to the Table (which provides leadership, resources, and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism that is rooted in the United States’ history of slavery; including many mindfulness & meditation resources), and watching the harmful and ugly divisions around race come roaring into the bright light of day over the past couple years, Ruth King confirms that sustainable transformation will only happen when people become mindful regarding race. That the real work is indeed from the inside out. Transformation is heart and soul work as much as anything else.

She writes toward the end of the book, "The Freedom we seek is not dependent on whether we can control external variables – we can’t. The freedom we seek is subtler and more in our control. This freedom can be known even in a sea of ignorance and suffering. This freedom depends on us cultivating the qualities of our mind and heart so that we bring loving awareness, mindfulness, and compassion to the certainty of racial suffering and put and end to it from the inside out."

Amen. I highly recommend this book.

[Cameron Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without knowing how to even begin talking about race, let alone knowing what to say when the conversation begins, this book is an amazing springboard, and will appeal to those who practice, or who would like to practice, mindfulness. I never would have even imagined the importance of waking up to my whiteness, (and what that even means), and how my own racial identity is just as important to define and explore in conversations about race. While this book is not written specifically for whites, I’m confident that those who identify as white to any degree would greatly benefit from this book. The author quotes Desmond Tutu ~If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.~ I don’t know what this means for me going forward, but I hope the book is one step in figuring out what actions to take.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this review almost two years after reading the book. I saw the author give a keynote address at The Innerwork Center (formerly Chrysalis Institute) in Richmond, VA, in 2018. During the resurgence of Black Lives Matter in 2020, I have thought about this book often. Especially Chapter 13 (The Wake-up Call: Racial Affinity Groups), Chapter 15 (What White People Can Do with Privilege) and Chapter 16 (What People of Color Must Do Together). This quote from Chapter 15 really resonated with me: “Dear White People: No one is asking you to apologize for your ancestors. We are asking you to dismantle the system of oppression they built that you maintain and benefit from.” ~ MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, author and radio host. This book feels like it was meant for 2020.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this in the car after hearing of Ruth King last year(when she came to the Upper Valley) and after hearing her interviewed on "10% Happier" with Dan Harris. Important book for those looking to understand racism and anti-racist work and how mindfulness can help with understanding our feelings and reactions. etc. Enjoyed it and of course found some parts hard to take in. Would like to listen again or read it in printed form. Recommend this to all.

[Michael Sasson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This and Larry Yang's recent book on building multi-racial and diverse spiritual community (based in part on his leadership experience at the East Bay Meditation Center) are serious offerings in how to actually practice spiritual maturity and social justice as intimately aligned without either one being merely instrumental as aids to achieving the other.

[Danielle Shroyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wise and insightful. Racism is a heart problem. But that doesn’t mean we don’t work to change systems and structures. It means we look at racism holistically. Ruth King shows is what it looks like to do that- to do our own inner work and to do the work that seeks to transform culture and society.

[Miriam Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

King talks about racism as a heart disease. Every word a gem.

[Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have spent a great deal of time in my life in meditation and on retreat. I have a deep respect for those who continue to pursue this line of inquiry into what makes us tick and what could make us, and this world, better. (Of course, the true dharmic principle is that suffering is contained in the trying to do anything at all, but be that as it may...).

Ruth King is a respected elder in the teaching of meditation and its application in the world, including the teachings of the Buddha. She applies it here to the paradigm we call race, the largely artificial and socially-constructed assumptions we make based on the color of a person's skin. She makes clear the trauma of generations and the trauma of the everyday suffered by those who must go through life absorbing the consequences of those assumptions and behaviors.

One of the reasons I am no longer an active meditation practitioner is that I find the passivity and vagueness of this practice frustrating, considering the multiple existential crises we face, and this book seems to me an avatar of this tendency. I agree wholeheartedly that coming to a recognition that anger without outlet can lead to all sorts of internalized harm and that the anger must be focused and not merely hateful in order to avoid damaging the victim as much or more than the perpetrator. But when the house is on fire is not the time to go into deep contemplation about the sources of fire or the nature of extinguishment before acting.

I guess where I come down is that I love this book in its intent and execution but find it suspect in practical use. For too long I have seen meditation practitioners who are less than serious about the practice use it to avoid rather than confront the ills of the world. I don't think Ruth King is one of those, but I fear she could encourage her readers in that direction. One of the worst outcomes (and she does address this here) would be for readers to use her writing as a way to become comfortable when faced with the intractable racism in our society. Meditation and dharma teaching are tools, and, as with any tool, can be used to cause as much harm as good.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s stated in the book that “when we are unconscious of how we affect each other, we are likely to cause more harm.” As a white Christian male, I want to continue to work to be compassionate toward others and their situations in every way possible, and King’s book is a fantastic stepping stone to ensure progress. From detailed meditation instructions to some statements of truth wherein she doesn’t mince words, I have to admit that this wasn’t the easiest read in the world for me, but some of the contents of this book were read at least twice so that I could really tune in and absorb what she was trying to either convey or have me understand.

There’s an acknowledgeable amount of suggestions for what white people need to do to improve the state of racial inequality in the meat of the book and, trust me, she executes the message as well as I could imagine anyone could. There’s a grace to her writing and wisdom in the way she presents that’s not one heralding comeuppance; she’s a gifted teacher, and it shows.

The book, among other things, also outlines ways to get involved with others in order to institute dialogue (with or without people of color) and, if you wish to cleanse yourself of any negativity due to racial conflict, how to begin on the journey to healing.

I started this book wanting to learn and to better myself; I think that Ruth King has helped me to do both, and I’ll be recommending this book often.

[Galen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about Ruth King from her contributions to the book Black & Buddhist (2020). I read this book to learn more about Ruth's individual teachings on race, mindfulness, and compassion.

This book was very engaging and insightful. Throughout the book, King offers a gentle but firm wisdom on how mindfulness can open our eyes and hearts to the challenges of race and inequity. King skillfully presents for readers relevant anecdotes followed by practiced guided meditations to help readers explore and come to terms with their own experiences. In particular, her counsel on RAIN mindfulness technique as well as how to form RAGs were very useful and implementable takeaways.

My lone critique of this book is the order in which the chapters are presented. Toward the end of the book, there are two sequential chapters on how the book's lessons can be used by White people and by People of Color. In some ways, I wish these chapters had been offered at the start of the book. I found myself re-reading earlier sections with a more critical eye after reading King's recommendations about how I, a cis white male, could put her lessons into practice. At the same time, I acknowledge that for some readers such chapters may be too "in your face" and thus might dissuade the reader from going further in the text.

Overall, this is a book that you are highly encouraged to read. You will not regret it!

[Ambre · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHEW!!! Yet another amazingly insightful book!

I’ve never actually been too interested in the meditation aspects of a mindfulness practice, simply because my tinnitus is impossible to move past unless I really concentrate on it, so this isn’t a book I would have picked out for myself given all the practical guided meditations that the author provides. However, it is a part of the “required reading” for a course I’m taking that “provides graduate-level instruction in social justice and liberation movement history, theory, and practice coupled with ancient wisdom traditions and holistic wellness support to create a transformative communal healing experience designed to awaken your inner organizer and strengthen your activism.”, and I’m really glad that I’ve read it!

As I mentioned, there are a lot of practical guided meditations in this book to help us first help ourselves so that we can direct our energies for change most effectively. There are sections specifically for white folks and sections specifically for Black folks, but most of this book is directed at anybody who wants to be more mindful of race, learn to become more compassionate, and develop a practice to transform racism from the inside out. This is another one that I’ll definitely need to reread several times as there is so much good information here that it's hard to absorb it all in just one read. I had so many highlights again!

[rhiannonrising · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is incredibly racist, and the author attempts to mask this racism using the language of yoga and mindfulness, which is doubly offensive. She goes beyond urging white people to acknowledge historical oppression and systemic racism, into telling an entire race that they're to blame for every single thing, and calling whiteness "harmful". She even blames white people for black-on-black violence.

She also likes to tell white people what to do in order to "heal" their community. It seems important to her that white folks come together as a group, united by whiteness (whatever that means) to deal with problems that occur in the white community (whatever that is), the way the black community does. I'm pretty sure that if I wrote a book telling black people what to do, and how to act as a community, I'd get my ass beat.

I'm truly sorry for her that it took a mindfulness practice for her to be able to even reciprocate a smile from a white person on the street, but that's still racist. If the racial roles were reversed, there would be no bones about it. Considering all white people a monolithic race is stupid in itself (when you can be voted in or out of whiteness, "whiteness" is therefore nonsense) and blaming that monolith for every group's problems is not the way to "racial healing," which is what her book claims to help bring about.