White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White

Read as part of a church group study.Recently, in a conversation with friends about [b:White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism 43708708 White Fragility Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism Robin DiAngelo https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548478235l/43708708.SY75.jpg 58159636], one of them made a comment about how white people are paid so much more for talking about racism than people of color are, though white people do not experience racism (as defined re: systems of power are created to benefit white people, to the exclusion of people of color). This conversation happened literally a day or two before our church started to read this, and we acknowledged that in the first Zoom session - how it feels so weird to talk about racism from the perspective of this white man who is at the top of literally all intersections.It is what it is. Anyway, this was fine. White Awake is the first book about race that I have read that intersects with evangelical Christianity (though I know there are many more, including by Black authors, which I intend to check out later), and I appreciate the discussion from that perspective. I'm glad we had this conversation chapter by chapter, week by week, but I really didn't feel like it was super cohesive until the last chapter, when everything tied together. I think the last chapter helped a lot with getting me back on board with it; one of the big topics was that white people are often quick to jump to the question of How Do We Fix It, and a) we can't “fix it,” b) we really can't “fix it” if we don't even totally understand the problem, so Hill talks about steps toward better understanding, going from “blindness to sight” as described in the biblical gospels, and acknowledging/lamenting/repenting for the state of race relations and one's own complicity in it before moving toward participation in anti-racism activity, which ... yeah as a whole it makes sense, but reading it chapter by chapter was very frustrating, being stuck in many chapters before getting to how it all works together!Admittedly, I'm impatient though. This would be a good starter book if you're a Christian who is just “waking up” to the issues of racism in America.Chapters:• The Day I Discovered My World Was White• Flying Blind• What is Cultural Identity• Encounter• Denial• Disorientation• Shame• Self-Righteousness• Awakening• Active Participation