Imagine the Possibilities
FEATURED BOOK RECOMMENDATION
WAKING UP WHITE
BY
DEBBY IRVING
Do you feel uncomfortable talking about race?
Do you feel frustrated by talk of “systemic racism”?
Do you feel defensive when told that you enjoy “white privilege”?
Do you wonder why “being a good person” isn’t considered enough?
Winchester native Debby Irving felt all of these things until a class at Wheelock College led her to question what she’d always believed about race in the US.
In this book she takes readers on a journey of discovery
—sometimes painful, often enlightening.
Inspiring Change
Here’s what the author has to say about the book:
Waking Up White is the book I wish someone had handed me decades ago. My hope is that by sharing my sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, I offer a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As I unpack my own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, I reveal how each of these well-intentioned mindsets
actually perpetuated my ill-conceived ideas about race.
I hope it will give you or someone you know new insights into how racism works and why you (or white people you know) can get so anxious when it comes to talking about race and racism. Writing the book was not only my way to reach out to other white people confused and/or curious about racism, it was like writing a five-year-long journal entry in an effort to make sense of all I learned and experienced in my research.