Being White: Stories of Race and Racism

by Karyn McKinney, Joe R. Feagin (Foreword)

Karyn McKinney uses written autobiographies solicited from young white people to empirically analyze the contours of the white experience in U.S. society. This text offers a unique view of whiteness based on the rich data provided by whites themselves, writing about what it means to be white.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race

296 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this out of some desperation to better understand how to guide my white students in thinking, talking, and writing about their racial identity. Whiteness is difficult in large part because of white normativity, and oh boy is it relevant in light of the recent election. I really appreciated this diverse collection of student race autobiography excerpts and McKinney's contextualization and analysis of them. The chapter titles reveal the variety of her scope:

Chapter 1: "I Could Tell My Story Without Mentioning My Race": Exploring Everyday Whiteness
Chapter 2: "I Began to See How Important Race Can Be": Turning Points in Whiteness
Chapter 3: "Being Born in the U.S. to White Parents is Almost Boring": Whiteness as a Meaningless Identity
Chapter 4: "I Feel 'Whiteness' When I Hear Others Blaming Whites": Whiteness as Cultural Stigmatization
Chapter 5: "I Was the Loser in This Rat Race": Whiteness as Economic Disadvantage
Chapter 6: "Being White is Like Being Free": Whiteness and the Potential for Antiracism

I had assigned a race narrative to my seniors after months of examining race. We considered our country's history of white supremacy and the evolution to modern forms of racism, uncovered some of the microaggressions that we have experienced and/or witnessed close to home and started strategizing how to respond to such casual racism, and examined a variety of personal narratives that reveal more facets of what it can be like to live in a deeply racialized society. This project was my students' opportunity to share their own story.

When I started reading their drafts, I was powerfully struck by a handful of pieces by white students who conflated race with ethnicity or class, argued for reverse racism, or seemed to feel pressure to be a victim to something. Despite all of our discussions and work, we clearly still had a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to helping my white students to grapple personally with the topic of race. This is something I really want to grow in.

In addition to granting me a wider scope and analysis of such narratives and the various ways in which white students process their whiteness, McKinney's book allowed me to select many excerpts from college students' own writings and post them around the room for a chalk-talk and follow-up discussion with my seniors the following day. This was a productive treatment of whiteness, at least for one day, and I look forward to subsequent discussions. I still have so much to learn, as my students do, and I know that this is all part of a long process for each of us, but boy oh boy, do I want to be better at guiding my students in the difficult journey of grappling with race.

[Erin Deverell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was easy to read, understand, and offered fascinating insights into white privilege. The method of data collection (autobiographical accounts from white university students) was highly effective, and helped to illustrate the 'white blindness' that is arguably experienced by white people. McKinney did a marvellous job of integrating 'white' attitudes and analysing them within the context of white privilege. Her analysis of white culture was both sound and highly relevant. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in whiteness studies.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

McKinney's book rates 5 stars first because she has broken important ground with the written racial and ethnic autobiographical approach to white young Americans. Further, she has enough grasp of underlying theory to give weight to her observations. Finally, she lays out the progression of the book well, interspersing quotations from the student autobiographies themselves with excellenta evaluative comments.

[SSVicious · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very anti-White.