First Book Recommendation!
Book Recommendation: White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao
I stumbled across this book while on social media one day awhile back and I felt called to read it. I came at it with an open mind and, in turn, it gave me a mirror to evaluate my past and present beliefs around racism and sexism and the courage to do better.
The authors are two brilliant women of color who have started an organization called Race2Dinner, where they are hosted by a white woman and eight of her white friends/acquaintances. At the dinner, they participate in candid and difficult conversations about race, which can be “incredibly challenging and unbelievably liberating,” according to the Race2Dinner website. Jackson and Rao decided to write a book to relay their experiences to a wider audience, and I am really glad they did. <3
What struck me the most is that as white women, we spend more time upholding white supremacy and the patriarchy than we do figuring out how to tear those systems down. Think about it.
As white women, we tend to see our oppression only through the lens of gender because all we see is men oppressing us. We falsely assume that women of color only have that lens to look through as well, when they too have the lens of race to contend with. These women are dealing with sexism and racism on a daily basis, and honestly, they don’t have time for our ‘white tears’ or ‘white fragility’ while we feel guilty for the sins of our ancestors and the sins of the people we know, and even our own assholery.
This is NO time to be offended or upset! It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work dismantling the oppressive systems that keep us all down!
This book has been a game-changer for me. It helped me look even further into myself and into race altogether in America. It’s the mirror all white women need to look introspectively and see their own racism, and then make the changes necessary for an inclusive and intersectional feminist movement.
Stay rude, my friends!
