All white people understand cultural differences from a platform of relative privilege, affecting their personal and professional interactions. How should they respond when confronted with this knowledge? This introductory book looks at the concept of whiteness, and shows how individuals can 'unmask' their own whiteness and take meaningful steps to break down unconscious bias and structural racism. Exploring how colonial history resulted in white privilege, this book examines how that privilege manifests today in a culturally diverse world, and the links between the rise in far-right politics and anti-immigration rhetoric that led to Brexit and Donald Trump's election. It looks at the pressures on privilege and white populations, with candid reflections on how even well-meaning white people may project unconscious bias in their everyday lives. There are also dedicated chapters on training to raise awareness of white privilege in professional organizations.
In this reflective yet practical book, the author challenges white helping professionals to recognize their own cultural identity and the impact it has when practising in a multicultural environment. Judy Ryde reveals how white people have implicit and explicit advantages and privileges that often go unnoticed by them. She suggests that in order to work effectively in a multicultural setting, this privilege needs to be fully acknowledged and confronted. She explores whether it is possible to talk about a white identity, addresses uncomfortable feelings such as guilt or shame, and offers advice on how to implement white awareness training within an organization. Ryde offers a model for 'white awareness' in a diverse society and provides concrete examples from her own experience. This book is essential reading for students and practitioners in the helping professions, including social workers, psychotherapists, psychologists, counsellors, healthcare workers, occupational therapists and alternative health practitioners.
An enduring history of how race and class came together to mark the course of the antebellum US and our present crisis. Roediger shows that in a nation pledged to independence, but less and less able to avoid the harsh realities of wage labor, the identity of "white" came to allow many Northern workers to see themselves as having something in common with their bosses. Projecting onto enslaved people and free Blacks the preindustrial closeness to pleasure that regimented labor denied them, "white workers" consumed blackface popular culture, reshaped languages of class, and embraced racist practices on and off the job. Far from simply preserving economic advantage, white working-class racism derived its terrible force from a complex series of psychological and ideological mechanisms that reinforced stereotypes and helped to forge the very identities of white workers in opposition to Blacks. Full of insight regarding the precarious positions of not-quite-white Irish immigrants to the US and the fate of working class abolitionism, Wages of Whiteness contributes mightily and soberly to debates over the 1619 Project and critical race theory.
'Emily's moving book is a powerful testimony that shines a light on the continued failure of health services to provide any kind of meaningful improvement for autistic people. Should be essential reading for mental health professionals and anyone with autism in their lives.' - FERN BRADY, author of Strong Female Character 'This book will bring so many readers self-recognition and comfort.' - DEVON PRICE, author of Unmasking Autism 'Vulnerable, affecting and deeply personal, this book will go from a message in a bottle to a rallying cry for many autistic women, girls and young people. We are not alone.' - Elle McNicoll, bestselling author 'A brilliant, thorough exploration of autistic experience, delivered with humanity, compassion and vivid clarity.' - Pete Wharmby, author of Untypical 'A magnificent read which manages to be informative, engaging, sad and uplifting all at the same time. Whether you're discovering that you're autistic yourself or you simply want to understand autistic people better, this is a must-read.' - Cathy Wassell, CEO Autistic Girls Network charity & author of Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person 'The book I wish I'd been able to read when I was younger.' - Sarah Gibbs, author of Drama Queen To the outside world, Emily looks like a typical girl, with a normal family, living an ordinary life. But inside, Emily does not feel typical, and the older she gets, the more she realises that she is different. As she finally discovers when she is 16, Emily is autistic. Girl Unmasked is the extraordinary story of how she got there - and how she very nearly didn't. Still only 21, Emily writes with startling candour about the years leading up to her diagnosis. How books and imagination became her refuge as she sought to escape the increasing anxiety and unbearable stresses of school life; how her OCD almost destroyed her; how a system which did not understand autism let her down; and how she came so close to the edge that she and her family thought she would never survive. In this simple but powerful memoir, we see how family and friends became her lifeline and how, post-diagnosis, Emily came to understand her authentic self and begin to turn her life around, eventually becoming a mental health nurse with a desire to help others where she herself had once been failed. Ultimately uplifting, Girl Unmasked is a remarkable insight into what it can be like to be autistic - and shows us that through understanding and embracing difference we can all find ways to thrive.
An inspiring outline of a new economics system, where justice, human dignity, compassion and reverence for life are the guiding values. The economic system under which we live not only forces the great majority of humankind to live their lives in indignity and poverty but also threatens all forms of life on Earth. Economics Unmasked presents a cogent critique of the dominant economic system, showing that the theoretical constructions of mainstream economics work mainly to bring about injustice. The merciless onslaught on the global ecosystem of recent decades, brought about by the massive increase in the production of goods and the consequent depletion of nature's reserves, is not a chance property of the economic system. It is a direct result of neoliberal economic thinking, which recognizes value only in material things. The growth obsession is not a mistaken conception that mainstream economists can unlearn, it is inherent in their view of life. But a socio-economic system based on the growth obsession can never be sustainable. This book outlines the foundations of a new economics, where we are not ruled by greed and injustice. Contrary to the absurd assumption of mainstream economists that economics is a value-free science, a new economics must make its values explicit.
"This book has been written to help us take an honest look at who we really are. It is here to help us dig deep. It is here to heal the nation. I'm no psychotherapist, but I get it. Benjamin Zephaniah Is it possible not to be confused about race? Is it possible to respond authentically to the hurt and discomfort of racism? The construct of race is an integral part of Western society's DNA and if we are to address the social injustice of racism, we need to have the race conversation. Yet all too often, attempts at such a dialogue are met with silence, denial, anger or hate. The Race Conversation explores how the damage and distress caused by racism lives not just in our minds, but principally in the body. As well as helping us to develop a cognitive understanding by exploring the history and development of the race construct, the book focuses specifically on the non-verbal communication of race, both as a means of social control and as an essential part of navigating oppressive patterns. This guide supports black, white and mixed heritage people to emerge from the tight grip of race discomfort to a trauma-informed, neurophysiological approach that emphasises resourcing, body awareness, mindfulness and healing.
When George Yancy penned a New York Times op-ed entitled “Dear White America” asking white Americans to confront the ways that they benefit from racism, he knew his article would be controversial. But he was unprepared for the flood of vitriol in response. The resulting blowback played out in the national media, with critics attacking Yancy in every form possible—including death threats—and supporters rallying to his side. Despite the rhetoric of a “post-race” America, Yancy quickly discovered that racism is still alive, crude, and vicious in its expression. In Backlash, Yancy expands upon the original article and chronicles the ensuing controversy as he seeks to understand what it was about the op-ed that created so much rage among so many white readers. He challenges white Americans to rise above the vitriol and to develop a new empathy for the African American experience.
Intersections of Privilege and Otherness in Counselling and Psychotherapy presents an in-depth understanding of the role of privilege, and of the unconscious experience of privilege and difference within the world of counselling and psychotherapy. To address the absence of the exploration of the unconscious experience of privilege within counselling and psychotherapy, the book not only presents an exploration of intersectional difference, but also discusses the deeper unconscious understanding of difference, and how privilege plays a role in the construction of otherness. It does so by utilising material from both within the world of psychotherapy, and from the fields of post-colonial theory, feminist discourse, and other theoretical areas of relevance. The book also offers an exploration and understanding of intersectionality and how this impacts upon our conscious and unconscious exploration of privilege and otherness. With theoretically underpinned, and inherently practical psychotherapeutic case studies, this book will serve as a guidebook for counsellors and psychotherapists.
"I was driven by the belief that if I wanted to go somewhere I'd need to be something other than Black." LaTonya Summers was only six years old the first time she unconsciously tried to be "more white". Recollecting experiences from her childhood in foster care through to her life today as an Assistant Professor and mother, LaTonya examines how her perception of self was affected by internalized racism and led her to adopt white norms - influencing everything from her music and clothing choices to her speech and values. Join LaTonya in her journey of realization - how all those years assimilating, stretching and pressing for whiteness harmed her, and how, in a world that sees her as Black, it's about time she did too. Discover how LaTonya has truly "made it" by embracing and endorsing the Afrocentric norms and values that have sustained her and her family better than any white picket fence ever could.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Building on the groundwork laid in the New York Times bestseller White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo explores how a culture of niceness inadvertently promotes racism. In White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo explained how racism is a system into which all white people are socialized and challenged the belief that racism is a simple matter of good people versus bad. DiAngelo also made a provocative claim: white progressives cause the most daily harm to people of color. In Nice Racism, her follow-up work, she explains how they do so. Drawing on her background as a sociologist and over 25 years working as an anti-racist educator, she picks up where White Fragility left off and moves the conversation forward. Writing directly to white people as a white person, DiAngelo identifies many common white racial patterns and breaks down how well-intentioned white people unknowingly perpetuate racial harm. These patterns include: • rushing to prove that we are “not racist” • downplaying white advantage • romanticizing Black, Indigenous and other peoples of color (BIPOC) • pretending white segregation “just happens” • expecting BIPOC people to teach us about racism • carefulness • and feeling immobilized by shame. DiAngelo explains how spiritual white progressives seeking community by co-opting Indigenous and other groups’ rituals create separation, not connection. She challenges the ideology of individualism and explains why it is OK to generalize about white people, and she demonstrates how white people who experience other oppressions still benefit from systemic racism. Writing candidly about her own missteps and struggles, she models a path forward, encouraging white readers to continually face their complicity and embrace courage, lifelong commitment, and accountability. Nice Racism is an essential work for any white person who recognizes the existence of systemic racism and white supremacy and wants to take steps to align their values with their actual practice. BIPOC readers may also find the “insiders” perspective useful for navigating whiteness. Includes a study guide.
