Customer Reviews

White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism

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Picture a soldier.

Picture a doctor.

Picture a taxpaying American.

Were any of these images black people? Probably not...even if you are black yourself. In our society the presumption is that people are white unless they are specifically raced otherwise. This presumption of whiteness as "the norm" and everyone else as "the other" - and the immense societal costs of this presumption - is at the heart of this collection, explored in 16 accessible readings designed to allow educators at different levels to initiate conversations about whiteness and white privilege in courses in many disciplines. It's divided into four sections, each with discussion questions:

The Power of Invisibility exposes the hidden power of whiteness, and the advantages it provides to whites as a group without them ever having realize, much less acknowledge, that such advantages exist.

The Power of the Past traces how and why the definition of "whiteness" has evolved and changed over the years. For example, there was a time when the Irish, Jews and Eastern Europeans (among others) were not considered white. "The Possessive Investment in Whiteness" demonstrates that long after slavery ended, public policy (even that supposedly designed to help minorities, like Urban Renewal) has systematically and adversely effected African Americans' ability to amass net worth, enhancing the rewards of past discrimination. Meanwhile, when white people start to feel disadvantaged or inconvenienced, they blame "affirmative action." For example, in the Bakke case, where the plaintiff argued that medical school affirmative action programs disadvantaged white applicants like himself, neither Bakke nor the Court contested the legitimacy of medical school admissions standards that reserved five seats in each class for children of wealthy donors. Most universities give similar preference to the children of alumni, which again, compounds past discrimination.

The Power of Privilege examines and enumerates the kinds of benefits - large and small - that white people take for granted, perhaps because they never even have to think about them. For example, as Peggy MacIntosh writes, "I can go shopping pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed; I can swear, or dress in secondhand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choice to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race; I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge," I will be facing a person of my race."

The Power of Resistance attempts to answer the question: How can white people who do not wish to participate in the system find ways to use that privilege to combat racism and the system of privilege as a whole?

Unfortunately, many discussions of whiteness end with "but I never owned slaves." This accessible collection will go a long way towards trying to pry open such minds. Highly recommended!

(For those already familiar with the first edition, this revised second edition includes two new pieces, "The Roots of Racial Classification" and "Privilege as Paradox." )

In White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Race, Rothenberg has compiled and reduced some very important and complex discussions on whiteness from a variety of social contexts. In White Privilege, whiteness is traced from it's multiple origins and entry points giving a basic understanding on how whiteness developed as a social construct, what whiteness has meant to numerous people, how various Others have become white, and how whiteness is navigated and construed by people of color.

It should be noted that this is a primer - an entry-level text on whiteness. This book is highly recommended for those seeking a deeper understanding of what whiteness is, what it means, and to some degree what it costs. It's a valuable starting point with numerous references and further readings for those who seek a deeper, richer, understanding of whiteness.

This book is highly readable and the analysis is very good. The only reason people would be reacting so negatively is if they have an investment in perpetuating racism. If you do not, then you will appreciate this book and its contribution to helping us understand the dynamics of privilege and how we can unconsciously fuel racism. The first step to changing something is understanding it. Nothing is helped by sticking your head in the sand and denying a problem exists. I encourage everyone who cares about ending the racist (and sexist and classist) power structure in our society to read this book.

Not a classic novel, but a good introduction to white privilege for those who are unfamiliar with the concept and the implications.

This book was a pretty good source of article information for a class I took. If you are looking for something that helps open the mind regarding what "white" means in race/status this is the book for you.

Quite frankly, the only people who will have a problem with this book are those in denial. Ever had to hunt for makeup that matches your skin? Books or Disney merchandise that resembles your child? Wonder about whose flesh "flesh colored" bandages are for? Had to hunt for a hairstylist because you can't just walk in to Supercuts? And before this year, tried to not think about the fact that all the presidents have been white?

This book just discusses these kinds of issues that people take for granted and that others do not have. It's those invisible, seemingly insignificant things that others don't enjoy and whites do for no other reason than being white. It's not a blame game, it is discussing what no one wants to. It is not about feeling like crap about it, it is about noticing and saying something if it is warranted. It is about becoming aware because ignorance ought not be bliss when others can't share in it.

Please just read it. Unless you are already a hater, I believe you will enjoy this insightful read.

This was a fantastic book and anyone who does not think so is proving the very theory put forth in this book. This book is insightful and should be read by every person of color as well as white people. This book will soon be a classic! It will do for white people what Grier and Cobb's "Black Rage" did for black people. Buy this book!!

The book was in great shape However I got it exactly 4 weeks after my purchase. That part of the class was done accept for my test. Thought it would take 2 weeks or less to get it.

It wasn't long ago that I was a very active and outspoken advocate of social change, an activist if you will. I marched on the WTO convention in Seattle and have joined numerous activist groups in protesting the ills of American society, the economy and our awful "President" Bush and his senseless wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. I would like to see a reformed America where people are truly equal. One thing I was fond of taking a stance against was racism, or at least, what I thought was racism.

However, after attending rally after rally and marching alongside everyone from Black Power advocates, La Raza, gay/lesbian/bisexual rights workers, punk rock anarchists and various Maoist and Marxist groups(a philosophy I have since renounced), I slowly began to realize that "racism" when spoken by activists on the Left had a different meaning than what I thought it was. Racim basically equals white people, and white people equals bad.

I cannot march with such hypocrites anymore. I will not stand up for equality when I'm told I should be ashamed for what my ancestors did, nevermind that those accusers know nothing of who my ancestors were and what they experienced. I'm tired of being guilty for being white. When I discussed this with a La Raza member at a recent antiwar demonstration he merely replied "Well, I hate to say it, but you guys kinda deserve it...I mean, you did invent it."

It is this kind of idiocy that permeates the anti-racist movement in America. When they talk of racism, what they really mean is bad bad Whitey, slavery, and "Eurocentrism". But never do you hear about the thousand year old oppression of the Irish by their Anglo Saxon neighbors in England. Rarely will you hear about the discimination faced by Lapps in Finland. And if you mention the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis people will claim that whites instigated it and turn a blind eye to similarly brutal tribal warfare in other parts of Africa. Mention the vicious attacks upon black Sudanese by Arabs of the north and you'll get confused looks. Mention the name Idi Amin and you'll get people asking "Who?".

Taking a stand against racism means you should take a stand against ALL FORMS OF RACISM! It isn't race exclusive. If African powers colonized America instead of European ones and whites or other ethnic groups were enslaved then the result would be the same! Have whites committed atrocities against peoples of different color? Of course. Have blacks? Oh yes. Have asians? Some of the worst in human history.

The point of my argument is that human beings are human beings, and all are capable of brutality against those they feel are different. This includes the Aztecs and Mayans that Latino activists like La Raza and MeCHA are so fond of admiring, and African civilizations such as Kush and Nubia that Afrocentric intellectuals fawn over. It is just as Nieztche said: The strongest and most succesful of nations are those who are well practiced in cruelty.

If anything, the anti-racist movement in America promotes segregation and isolationism more than it promotes peace and tolerance. Basically, their core belief is that whites are bad, but everyone else is ok. Because of this, I cannot in good conscience support a movement which seeks a racist role-reversal instead of destroying racism in all its forms utterly and completely.

Free your mind

This book is ridiculously myopic and ignorant at best, extremely racist at worst.

If you are intelligent enough to realize that word "racism" applies to all races, then you don't need this book. If, however, you think that the only people who are racist are whites, make sure you pick this book up to for your propaganda horse-blinders.

Simply because the book is well written does not make it true. If the author states something as fact, don't buy into it. If the author cites a source, check out the source; it will be, without a doubt, written by someone who shares the exact same mendacious views (Who's parroting now?). Citing a source that is without any genuinely academic purpose does not create a strong foundation for supporting an already weak hypothesis. Even the author, within the first 10 pages, admits that what she is trying to prove is "invisible", and therefore that much more insidious. In other words, the department of "I just pulled these stats, findings, thoughts, citations, and facts out of my rear" is alive and well within this book.

If you read this book with an open-mind, and you haven't already been tainted by one side or the other, you'll see more hypocrisy in this book than a book titled "Why I Love and Practice Democracy" written by Joseph Stalin. Within the first two chapters you'll find yourself wanting to debate the author, calling her out on her BS, and asking her why there aren't inter-connected footnotes that chronicle her contradictions.

If I could give it zero stars, I would. The book does nothing but stoke the coals of racial tensions, persuading those who believe in "The Man" and "The System" to dig in their heels with their misguided and misinformed positions.