Coming Soon - June 2023

Being White Today: A Roadmap for a Positive Antiracist Life

Race is a complicated topic. Messages from the far-right as well as those from antiracists offer competing and contradictory suggestions for how White people should think, act, and feel about themselves, leaving many confused. This book offers clarity while arguing that White people can feel good about themselves and be antiracist at the same time. For people who care about living in an inclusive, multiracial democracy, this book provides a roadmap to navigate the various positions White people negotiate on the way toward becoming positive, healthy, antiracist people. It is also a guide for those who want to help more White people act effectively in service of racial justice.

PRE-ORDER TODAY

Being White Today is due to be released in June 2023.

INTEREST LIST

Fill out this form if you’d like to receive email updates related to the book's publication and related events.

A message from the authors: When white nationalists dropped flyers on college campuses that read, “It’s okay to be white,” explanations about how the flyers were aligned with hate speech left many confused. In the years that followed, Christine Saxman and I produced resources to support teachers and parents to recognize hate groups’ tactics, reasons for their success, and warning signs of indoctrination. Combining our study of white racial identity with an analysis of the competing messaging offered by bigots and antiracists led to the forthcoming book - Being White Today: A Roadmap for a Positive Antiracist Life.

As we await the book’s publication, check out the articles, speeches, and podcasts explaining:

  • how a failure to understand racial identity leaves white people susceptible to white nationalists’ messaging
  • the importance of taking the racial identity development process into account when trying to influence people toward antiracism

Initial insights into the role played by white identity development:

Interrupting recruitment into organized hate:

A personal experience and reflection:


Watch this video of the August 14, 2022 workshop presented by Shelly to a SURJ group that introduces ideas from the new book. For a breakdown of timing related to concepts presented in the video, check out the Creating Focused Anti-racist Conversations event page.