March 2026: Book review by book club member Kate McLennan of White Women: Everything You Already Know About your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao
This book is authored by Regina Jackson, and Saira Rao, who share their personal experiences of racism, as a Black woman and a South-Asian woman born and raised in the United States. This book is also informed by stories from other Black, Indigenous, and women of colour (BIWOC), and by what the authors learned about white women through their offering of Race2 Dinner. Race2Dinner was created in 2019 to offer groups of 8 to 10 white women the experience to participate in direct and difficult conversations about their own racism, over the course of a dinner hosted by one of the participants. In the preface, the authors explain that a critical component of upholding white supremacy is employing a feigned ignorance about our own racism. We are urged to practice radical honesty while the authors deconstruct nine aspects of white womanhood.
Chapter one describes how our quest for perfection is killing Black, Brown, Indigenous and brown people, and us (white women). This is an incredibly important chapter that informs the rest of the book. The authors explain how perfection is a key principle forming the foundation of whiteness and white supremacy. This quest is an endless trap that locks us into an unwinnable competition to outshine other white women, but “there is nothing Black, Indigenous, and brown women can do to achieve the perfection” (pg. 9) of whiteness. Saira shared her story of growing up as a South Asian girl, trying to “be as close to white as possible” (pg. 2). In college, Saira’s “friend” came to tell her about the racism that prevented Saira from being accepted into an almost entirely white sorority. Instead of speaking up and calling out the racism, this so-called friend “performed every act in the white woman variety show” (pg. 6). The variety show included remaining silent in the face of racism, feeling guilty, and then centering our own upset feelings (despite not being the victim of said racism). This white woman confided in Saira, despite the further harm and self-loathing that this made Saira experience. By doing this, she felt that she was absolved of her racism, all while remaining silent, and continuing to be a part of this racist sorority. In doing so, this white woman tried to prove that she wasn’t like them. As a reader, I cannot deny that this is something we all do far too often. Every time I speak about the downfalls and racism of white people, I am talking about myself. It is not them, not those racist white people, it is me, it is we, and it is us.
The need for perfection makes it impossible for us to actually engage in anti-racism work, for the fear of not doing everything right. This form of competition we engage in is perfectly described by the authors as “White Woman Woke Wars” (pg.12). The authors make us face the truth that “if you can’t be in sisterhood with each other, how on earth can
you be in sisterhood with us, women of colour” (pg. 11). The authors point out something that many of us white women choose to ignore, the fact that beside Black and brown women, we have the most contempt for each other. This unwinnable quest for perfection pits us against each other and makes it impossible for us to be in community. In addition to that, this desperate need for perfection causes us to stop working on our racism and stop engaging. We give up or lash out as soon as we are critiqued or feel embarrassed. This leads us to take on a defeatist mentality, or self-flagellate, to try to recover our now tarnished, supposedly perfect image. The authors urge us to stop seeing critiques as attacks.
We desperately need “real, steady, hold-us-accountable, radically honest community” (pg. 15), and we need to divest from perfectionism. We can do this by recognizing how much energy we put towards upholding our appearance and an unrealistic image of ourselves. We need to recognize that white supremacy is hurting us too, in the pressure and expectations that we put on ourselves, and in the unkind ways that we treat each other. We need to be gentle with ourselves and others and be okay with not getting everything done. We need to accept that we will get things wrong, and we will feel embarrassed at times. Only when we free ourselves from judgment can we extend this to others. When we receive critiques, we need to accept that mistakes happen, let them go, and commit to doing better next time.
The second chapter teaches us that “[our] nice is actually evil” and that white woman “kindness is a killer to niceness” (pg. 19). Regina shares a story that exemplifies how acting our version of “nice” often means not speaking up when others are mistreated and not causing any disruption in our nice white lives. Our silence, and our unwillingness to rock the boat is violence. For example, common statements that promote this exact brand of niceness are:
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“Let’s agree to disagree”
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“We don’t talk politics or religion here”
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“You better watch your tone”
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“Honey attracts more flies than vinegar”
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“She’s so divisive”
The authors also give the example of how we, white women, react in viral “Karen” videos. We fly off the handle when we are called racist. We act as if being called racist is more harmful than actually being racist. This reaction is again closely tied to the way we try to uphold a perfect self-image, even when our actions completely contradict this mirage.
Chapter three goes deeper into how white silence is violence. Silence is a critical component of being nice. Racism persists when we turn the other way, get up from the dinner table and laugh nervously. We think to ourselves, “you didn’t say it, so you’re off the hook” (pg. 33). When we hear racism and watch it play out, we protest, “not me. Not this white woman” (pg. 34). Our false sense of exceptionalism tells us that we are better, that the white women around us are the rule, but not us. We are all so afraid of looking mean, of seeming divisive, of seeming not nice, that we are in fact deeply unkind to ourselves and others. Regina states “that’s the work…not to sit in silence thinking but actually voicing your convictions. Out loud. In the moment” (pg. 36). We must remember that while “white silence is comfortable for [us]. White silence is harmful, even deadly, for Black, Indigenous and brown people” (pg. 36). In addition to the harm our silence causes others, it hurts us too. Think of the burden of the unpaid labour we bear in our personal and professional lives, the harm we cause ourselves when we don’t speak up and stand up for ourselves.
Chapter four forces us to face our hypocrisy when we claim to be unaware of our racism, while attempting to reclaim power from men. We see oppression very clearly through the lens of gender, but we erase our white power from the equation. We understand that we are at a disadvantage due to misogyny, but we refuse to recognize our white privilege. We live in a “white cocoon” (pg. 44) that allows us to be colour blind and “live in a fantasy where every woman is equally oppressed” (pg. 45). This refusal to acknowledge intersectionality makes us lose the opportunity to organize effectively. As said to Saira by one white woman, we want to opt out of “things that don’t apply, you know, like Black Lives Matter” (pg. 46). We react with urgency after moments like the murder of George Floyd, but we fail to follow through. We cause more labour for BIWOC women in the process, our behaviour remains unchanged, yet we feel good about our performance. We are adept at making excuses to not engage in anti-racism; we claim we are too exhausted, too busy, but we say we are listening and learning. The authors ask us to reflect, “if you are tired from all this, imagine how tired we are.” (pg. 48). We cannot deny that we “…choose whiteness over womanhood all day, every day” (pg. 52). Saira strips away the illusion of what we think we are doing and tells us that “your listening and learning is code for knowing your racism and doing nothing to end it. Not fighting to dismantle your racist ways is racism” (pg. 61).
Chapter five makes us confront our white entitlement. In our quest to regain power, we take the place of and act like white men. The authors tell us that it is important to recognize these actions as entitlement, rather than using mild, soft words like privilege and fragility. Our white entitlement does “the heavy lifting of upholding violence” (pg. 63) and white supremacy. The lack of vocabulary for white entitlement and related ways of being limits the ability to call out this behaviour. Our white supremacy and entitlement are nefariously embedded in mundane, everyday expressions like “white trash”. This entitlement means that we always feel like we need to come first, even before every other white woman. The authors describe that as a “mini hunger games among yourselves” (pg. 70).
In the sixth chapter, the authors make a case against the commonly held belief “the kids are going to save us” (pg. 711). In saying things like that, we forget what kids are learning and from whom. We refused to acknowledge that schools and white mothers are key pillars upholding white supremacy. We should not believe that educators are immune to white supremacy; we should not assume that curricula are not skewed in favour of white supremacy. Racism in schools seems subtle because we are used to and have normalized it. Think of the tradition of “learning about” and celebrating Thanksgiving. If students were taught the true meaning of Thanksgiving, it is unlikely that it would be accompanied by celebrations and seasonal crafts. Regina tells us that white teachers “do horrible, shaming, traumatic things to children of colour, especially Black children, every day” (pg.76). Regina shares how teachers had zero expectations for her Black son, how they weren’t interested in investing in him, challenging him, or helping him reach his full potential. Consider how some white children are labelled gifted, while Black children exhibiting the same behaviours are labelled disruptive. Consider how these white children are called smart and strong-willed, while the Black children are assumed to be acting out or to have parents who don’t care. White teachers refuse to learn about and participate in students’ cultures other than our own, and this gravely limits their ability to truly teach and mentor Black, Indigenous, and brown children.
Chapter seven discusses how our racism shows up at work. The authors say that although we often call these behaviours microaggressions, “there is nothing micro about the hate you give” (pg. 85). The authors again remind us that the ignorance of our own racism is feigned, that we recognize these behaviours when we look at them through a lens of gender, telling us that “You. Know. What. You. Are. Doing. Because. It’s. Done. To. You.” (pg .86). If you can’t think of any examples of what we do, here are a few from the authors:
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When interacting with our BIWOC co-workers, we assume we are more competent
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We belittle, diminish and silence them
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We question their every move, we speak over them
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We mispronounce their names, repeatedly
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We cry violent tears and we blame them for our bad behaviour
Chapter eight covers the topics of toxic positivity and white woman wellness. The authors explain that “every time you say love trumps hate, you are enabling hate to flourish” (pg. 113). For example, we proclaim:
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Choose love
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Don’t be so negative
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We need unity
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Lighten up
All of these statements reinforce toxic positivity, gaslighting behaviour, delusions of colour blindness, cultural appropriation, and spiritual bypassing to help us get away with our bullshit. The life coaching and self-help industry requires that white women feel inadequate and reinforces our perceived inability to recognize what is holding us back (including our own white woman nonsense and our own racism). This way of thinking “doesn’t allow us to see the ways in which we oppress” (pg. 129). It only allows us to see how we are victims.
The final chapter of this book describes how all the above-described actions culminate in us being white allies, or rather, white saviours, and inflicting white violence on Black, Indigenous, and people of colour. The authors lay out that: “White people have created the system of white supremacy. White people benefit from white supremacy. YOU have both created and benefited from the very thing you are purportedly saving us from” (pg. 135). Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? The authors make us face our hypocrisy by thinking of the gender-based “good guy syndrome” we often see in men. They posture to look feminist, differentiating themselves from other guys. Then they are doubly rewarded, first by the system of patriarchy they benefit from, and then by the optics of being better than the other guys. We do exactly this in media, books, and movies depicting white saviours, and we eat that shit up. We foolishly believe that volunteering and donating absolve us from racism. We deny our own racism, we use our good deeds as evidence that we cannot be racist, and then we gaslight others (often BIWOC) when we are told otherwise. We cannot keep calling ourselves allies. White saviourship is white violence. All our behaviour that has been so clearly laid out in the chapters before this one makes this an irrefutable argument. We are racist, and it is hurting not only others but also ourselves.
The end of this book includes a glossary of white woman terms. A few terms that I think are especially helpful to reflect on are:
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Your feelings: Elevation of your feelings over all else, including the reality of BIPOC
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Crazy busy
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Listening and learning
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White nonsense
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White urgency
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White women wellness
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White woman proverbs
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White woman woke wars
The edition I read also includes a guide to unlearning and questions for discussions and self-accountability. These questions include:
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What were the ways that your own perfectionism arose in your thoughts as you read this book?
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White women are socialized to diffuse tension. How do you see this show up in your life?
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Make a list of 5 entitled actions you recognize within yourself on a daily basis.
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Name at least one way you have stepped on BIWOC and other white women to achieve accolades.
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Name the ways you made yourself the exception, or named yourself an ally, when you actually acted as a white saviour. How will this realization change you in the future?
After reading this book, I can say that this should be required reading for every white woman. While at times the points these authors made were difficult to hear, they were not wrong. I needed this reality check, and I believe that many other white women do too. I am so grateful for the work these authors have put into educating us on our own thoughts, behaviours and actions, through Race2Dinner and through this book. I am ashamed of the ways that I have feigned ignorance about my own racism, but I don’t want to live in denial. I have found myself continuously coming back to the points raised by the authors, and I was especially startled by the hypocrisy I hold when I think of gender-based oppression compared to racism. The hypocrisy runs deep.
I absolutely loved the unfiltered and matter-of-fact approach that the authors took when writing this book. I strongly urge other readers to sit with their discomfort and extend curiosity to their feelings of defensiveness, discomfort, and guilt that are sure to arise. Recognize these feelings as an opportunity to learn, to foster community, and to grow beyond the confines of perfectionism, white supremacy, judgment, and the many other things that hold us back too. I desperately need to take this advice, and I know that other readers do too. We are not the exception; we are the rule
Reviews by book club member Rosemary Brown (originally published in the Brentwood Cares newsletter). The dates refer to when we read the book. Thank you, Rosemary, for allowing me to show your reviews!
December 2021: It was hard to put down, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, which was December’s read for the Settlers’ Book club. The author, Monique Gray Smith, of Cree, Lakota and Scots ancestry, takes us on a road trip with eight Indigenous Elders from Kamloops, and Tilly, their younger driver.
They travel by van to Albuquerque, New Mexican in order to fulfill the bucket list wish of Sarah, who has always dreamed of dancing at the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow. Travelling with Sarah are her sister Anne from Toronto, four other members of her sewing or “stitch and bitch” circle : Rose, Bea, Lucy, Mable as well two men, Rose’s husband Poncho and Bea’s ex-husband Chuck. All have their own bucket wishes which the trip incorporates, whether it’s a stop in Las Vegas, a visit to the red rocks of Sedona to spread a sister’s ashes, seeing the Grand Canyon, or hugging a tree in the Redwood Forest .
At first the group does not believe that they will be able to take the trip but after months of hard work raising the necessary funds, arranging for travel documents and permission to use one of the Band Council’s large vans, they are finally ready to go.
What follows is not only a recounting of their trip but an exploration into their diverse personalities: from irrepressible Lucy to curmudgeonly Rose, as well as the stories of what has made these elders who they are. These stories are often poignant and many deal with healing from residential school experiences to losing a daughter on the Highway of Tears, marital discord and break ups, loss of culture and struggling with alcohol addiction. The interplay among the elders is often humorous and sometimes very sweet as relationships heal and strengthen and journeys of self discovery are made. All in all this was a very enjoyable, heartwarming and worthwhile read.
July – October 2021: Blackfoot Ways of Knowing: The Worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi is a must read for those of us who want to develop a better relationship with and understanding of the people on whose land we now live, work and play.
The author, Dr. Betty Bastien, is Blackfoot (a member of the Piikani Nation), a University of Calgary Social Work Professor Emeritus and currently the Director of the Indigenous Bachelor of Social Work degree programme at Red Crow Community college in Lethbridge.
Bastien has written this book for other Blackfoot . At the same time the book offers insights into a worldview that contains lessons for all of us in regards to how we conduct our own lives and how we interact with the natural world around us.
The book is a challenging and enlightening one. It is with humility that I write this review, recognizing that as a settler, I most likely do not totally grasp the scope of the ideas that Bastien presents and discusses.
Bastien begins with a presentation of key concepts and a brief historical overview of pre and post contact Blackfoot society and the consequences of colonization.
In the two middle sections of the book, Bastien paints a multilayered portrait of what it meant and means to be Blackfoot and how this meaning is taught and learned. According to Bastien the worldview of the Blackfoot encompasses a cosmos of spiritual energies where everything in the natural world including humans, is infused with spirit and everything exists in relationship with each other. The Blackfoot recognized the natural world as a generous one which provided many gifts. Therefore, respect and gratitude were the basis upon which the Blackfoot developed and maintained reciprocal alliances with these different relations. This was essential to creating balance, the key to harmony and survival.
This understanding of the universe was based on thousands of years of observation and this understanding has been transmitted from generation to generation through ceremonies with their associated medicine pipes and bundles, prayers, stories and songs. In the process Blackfoot individuals learn what their roles and responsibilities are in building and maintaining alliances. This learning is an experiential and evolving process led by “grandparents” and ceremonialists. The stories were not prescriptive but were offered for individuals to reflect upon and apply to their own lives and situations. Bastien shares several of these stories, as well as statements by grandparents” throughout her discussion.
Bastien comments that it is difficult to use the English language to adequately explain these concepts. This is due to the fact that the Blackfoot language embodies these sacred and spiritual understandings of the natural world, while English is a language of a culture that became increasingly disassociated from nature over the centuries.
Bastien’s discussion of the Blackfoot language and how integral it is to the transfer of Blackfoot ways of knowing makes abundantly clear to the reader how devastating the stripping of language from Indigenous children in residential schools was. Residential schools were but one aspect of colonization which Bastien defines as a system of policies and practices which have resulted in cultural genocide-a concerted disruption of what it meant to be Blackfoot. She also argues that cultural genocide is genocide, and after reading this book I agree.
Bastien also makes the point that not all knowledge was lost as there were Indigenous peoples who resisted the impact of colonization by continuing to live by and engage in ceremonial practice.
Bastien believes strongly that the capacity to resist the genocidal consequences of colonization is to be found in reclaiming. Blackfoot ways of knowing and relating to the world around us.She refers to these ways of knowing as sacred science and compares and contrasts it to western science, while at the same time pointing out that many aspects of this sacred science resonate with many understandings and discoveries of modern physicists.
Therefore, If we as non-Indigenous peoples can begin to see the world in holistic rather than binary terms; if we can grasp how we are part of a web of continually interactive relationships that require reciprocity to remain in balance, and if we accept our roles and responsibilities in maintaining this balance, we might see our way forward to addressing the severe imbalances we are experiencing in the natural world today.
To sum up I will conclude with the response made by Indigenous author Lee Miracle in an Orange Shirt Day webinar. She was asked about whether or not it was appropriate for non-Indigenous people to embrace the spiritual practices of Indigenous peoples to support themselves on their spiritual journey. Lee replied, “Don’t be a pretend Indian. Fall in love with the land and the land will teach you”.
February 2021: To honor Black History Month, the Settler’s Book Club read Cheryl Foggo’s Pourin’ Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place in the Canadian West. Foggo is a Calgary-based award-winning author, playwright and filmmaker. Written thirty years ago and recently republished, Pourin’ Down Rain combines personal memoir and family history, all contextualized within the larger story of the migration of Black settlers into Canada around 1910.
Foggo was born in Calgary in 1956, and she describes what it was like to grow up in Bowness as part of the small close-knit community of Black families who also lived in her neighbourhood. She also recounts the long but much anticipated road trips to visit grandparents and other relatives in Winnipeg. The close bonds between Cheryl and her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents gave her a sense of identity and pride which helped her deal with the racism she encountered growing up.
She explains that she grew up into a consciousness of racism based on the experiences around her and the stories she heard from friends and family, especially when it came to finding work in Canada. There were the comments of classmates and the sudden shunning by a white boyfriend in high school. She describes the first anti-racism march she participated in and the continued evolution of her thinking when it came to racism.
Then there were the family stories told by her aunts and great aunts that related the conditions that led to the migration of hundreds of Black settlers from the U.S. into Canada. These included Foggo’s great-grandfather, who left Oklahoma for Saskatchewan in 1910.
Interspersed with the stories and vignettes of family life are numerous and wonderful photos of family, friends, and neighbours. These all contribute to a powerful depiction of what it was like to grow up Black in Calgary and in Canada in the 60’s and 70’s.
March 2021: The Right to be Cold by Sheila (pronounced Seela) Watt-Cloutier, was the March selection for the Settlers’ Book Club. This inspiring book is both a personal memoir beginning with her childhood in Inuvik in northern Quebec, and an impassioned accounting of the negative impact of the outside world on Inuit communities in the Canadian north, and on their traditional hunting culture. The hunting way of life was the foundation of the culture and the training ground in the skills and mental attributes needed to survive on the land.
These outside influences included the introduction of the trapping economy by the Hudson Bay Company, the collapse of the market for fox furs in the 40s, the 60s anti-sealing campaign, increasing dependence on government assistance and the associated pressure to move into permanent communities, the introduction of a non traditional education system the forced relocation of some Inuit communities to the far North, and the 1960s slaughter of the Inuit dog sled teams by the RCMP.
Over time these have led to social dislocation and an increase in many social problem such as poverty, alcoholism, crime, and violence. Watt-Cloutier believes that the way forward for Inuit communities in the North and a key means of breaking dependency lies in building and integrating those aspects, including spirituality, of what still remains of the hunting culture into new ways of doing things.
The capacity to do this, however, is diminishing as rapidly as the ice and the permafrost in the north due to global warming . As a result Watt-cloudier has spent much of her adult life addressing environmental issues through her role as Canadian President and then as the International Chair of the ICC or Inuit Circumpolar Conference. On the one hand she details the complex and interconnected ways in which global warming impacts the ice and permafrost and Inuit communities.
On the other she recounts the intense international campaigns and the ins and outs of negotiating with all stakeholders such as Inuit and environmental organizations, various industries and governments to create international agreements to protect the environment and the communities impacted by harmful environmental practices.
Watt-Cloutier was instrumental in bringing the world and the UN Human Rights Council to an understanding that environmental rights are also human rights. And as Watt-cloudier s eloquently demonstrates, one of these human rights is “the right to be cold”.
April 2021: The Settlers’ Book Club continued it’s examination of racism with How To Be An Anti-Racist by Black university professor Ibram X. Kendi.
While the title might lead one to believe this was a prescriptive manual, the book is in fact an interesting weave of personal experiences and patterns of thinking with broader analyses of a range of concepts relevant to antiracist struggle. It’s an account of how Kendi’s thinking evolved over time, from his childhood and youth to today. He considers internalized racist attitudes and ideas, and the intersecting issues of class, gender, sexuality. He also discusses power, colour, the environment and the source of racism in society.
In the process Kendi challenges the idea of colour blindness and the belief that one can be a non-racist or not racist. He argues that one is either racist or anti-racist. His definition of anti-racist treats the term not as a noun but as a verb, entailing the necessity to actively counter racist ideas, policies and practices.
He locates the source of racism not in ignorance and hate but the policies and practices that produce hate and ignorance. Further he argues that these policies and practices are not designed by those in power because they hold racist ideas, but that racist policies, practices and ideology are designed to benefit those in power – whether economically, politically or socially.
This then leads to an analysis of the viability of traditional anti-racist strategies which rely on education and moral persuasion. He argues that these have their place in the struggle, but if they are not linked to the work of actively challenging racist policies and practices they will fail in effectively challenging racism. For Kendi the essence of being an anti-racist is to work towards the elimination of racist policies and practices head on, which means taking on power. As such Kendi’s book is a critical and thought provoking addition to the literature on anti-racism. It is well worth reading.
May 2021: In the Settlers’ Book Club we read A Mind Spread Out on the Ground. Alicia Elliott, the author, spent most of her childhood on the Six Nations reserve of Grand River in Ontario with her Tuscarora father and white mother and several siblings.
The title of her book is drawn from the Mohawk word for depression. It is an apt title as she creates a moving portrayal of what it was like to grow up in an impoverished family with a mentally ill mother and a sometimes abusive loving father.
The book is a series of interrelated essays ranging from personal stories to reflections on the impact if colonization, the nature of racism, the agricultural industry, literature and writing and photography.
She covers a lot of ground. She critiques the social services who seemed more intent on pulling the family apart rather than providing the supports they needed. She describes how the children were coached not to say to much at school or in front of care workers so that they would not be taken away. She talks about what it was like to grow up with a mixed heritage and her journey to find herself and to become proud of her Indigenous roots. She discusses racism and compares it to our perceptions of dark matter – we can’t always see it but it is there.
She moves from a description of the lack of nutritious food available because of a limited income to an analysis of agricultural subsidies which stimulate the production of corn and soy beans which are key ingredients in the junk food that was eastern. She speaks poignantly of her conflicted feelings towards a mother whose moods swing from loving, engaging and entertaining to sullen withdrawal and inactivity. They were also conflicted towards her father. He worked hard to support the family and was committed to keeping them together but he was emotionally abusive to his wife and there were instances of physical abuse towards his children. The theme that connects many of these essays is Elliott’s analysis of the ongoing impact of colonization.
September 2020: Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel and July 2020: White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
Vowel, a Métis lawyer based in Edmonton, makes it clear that she is not speaking for all Indigenous peoples. On the other hand the issues and analyses she presents echo those of many of the other books we have read. In this book Vowel uses humour and a well-documented research to explore a range of issues including but not limited to terminology, identity to residential schools and the 60’s Scoop, water, justice, the treaties, education. As such this is an excellent book to read alongside the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions 94 Calls to Action. Vowel also has an extensive section challenging prevalent myths around Indigenous peoples.
One of the themes running through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action is the need for anti-racism education among health care professionals, child care workers, educators, the police, members of the justice system, etc. So in the Settlers’ Book Club we have also been reading several books about racism. The first was White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism. This was written by the white American author and anti-racism facilitator Robin Diangelo, White Fragility explores the myriad reactions that we as white people often experience when either discussing racism or being challenged for racist comments and behaviours. These include everything from anger, and denial, to withdrawal, tears and or silence.
While I had been aware of these typical reactions before I read the book, I appreciated how Diangelo locates them within the context of white supremacy and what she calls the “good/bad binary”. She unpacks what white supremacy is and how as white people we are socialized into racism. Because we often are unconscious of this process and because we have bought into the notion that good people cannot be racist – that the racists are only those radical white supremacists. She ends with a discussion of how we can build resiliency when talking about racism so that we do not fall into typical reactive behaviours. This book has given me and others a lot to think about, as well as a list of very useful resources for further learning.
August 2020: Desmond Cole’s The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in gaining insights into the relationship between black communities and urban police forces. A black investigative journalist in Toronto, Cole recounts events from the year
of 2016 on a month to month basis. He describes in chilling detail incidents of police brutality as well as interactions with immigration and child welfare. Cole is also an activist who speaks up at hearings and other public events. He describes these as well as the community organizing efforts of everyday people. Cole weaves in stories from other provinces, including the visit he made to cities in Alberta to meet with communities concerned about the issues of carding and racial profiling by the police. This book was a timely read shortly after the Black Lives Matter protests held across the world and. It continues to be significant for understanding the experiences of Black people in this
country at the hands of the authorities, and the need for change. As Cole states “Some of us have decided that policing as it exists today will never contribute to our safety or freedom”.
For book reviews of books we have read in the Indigenous Book Discussion group, go to https://wtepyyc.wordpress.com/book-reviews/
Settlers' Book Club 