#WakingUpWhite Chapter 20: My Robin Hood Syndrome

“You know, we’re trying to focus on programs that serve Boston’s inner-city youth. If you could develop a vision that … More

#WakingUpWhite Chapter 19: My Good Luck

“… I returned … with my childhood ideas about a level playing field, a world teeming with opportunity, and myself … More

We talk about the things that are important to us, or we talk about the things that are completely unimportant … More

“How it was possible that I was both a ‘good person’ and utterly clueless.” It’s possible because being “good” does … More

“The monumental cognitive task of processing the millions of pieces of information that flood us daily requires that we sort … More

“One of the most powerful tools of racism is stories.” More broadly, all history is stories, sometimes told in a … More

The fact that the playing field is not level means that life experiences are not merely different, but unequal and … More

“We were pushed hard to be cognizant of what we did and did not notice. And most importantly, why?” This … More

“One of the breakthroughs I had … was understanding the degree to which I tend to align what I see … More

“Skin color itself is not the barrier; it’s the beliefs attached to it. And beliefs, compared to birth dates or … More

“The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to being a melting-pot society adhering to Anglo-Saxon standards, as opposed to a … More

[Edited 2/23/2019 A point of clarification on this post: the indented portions are quotes from the book by Debby Irving, … More

“The biggest problem with America’s idea of racial categories is that they’re not just categories: they’ve been used to imply … More

“I couldn’t shake the duped feeling—duped and infuriated to have inherited a legacy that contaminated me with injustice.” This chapter … More

“Racism wasn’t about this person or that, this upset or that, this community or that; racism is, and always has … More

“For me, part of the waking-up-white process is acknowledging that I’m a recovering lemming*…I never considered that the space I … More

“By pretending the world was virtually problem-free, my family culture left me grossly underprepared to solve problems.” The 50s and … More

“Which one is the real issue?” The temptation when confronting a difficult issue is to find a subsidiary issue, make … More

“One of the things my white mother could not teach me was to honor feelings of outrage.” This chapter is … More

This chapter* opens with a provocative quote by the author: “‘WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ALL THE INDIANS?’ I asked my mother … More

James Baldwin* said this, I’m told: “If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you … More