Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It » (New Edition)

Witnessing Whiteness invites readers to consider what it means to be white, describes and critiques strategies used to avoid race issues, and identifies the detrimental effect of avoiding race on cross-race collaborations. The author illustrates how racial discomfort leads white people toward poor relationships with people of color. Questioning the implications our history has for personal lives and social institutions, the book considers political, economic, socio-cultural, and legal histories that shaped the meanings associated with whiteness. For book discussion groups and workshop plans, please visit www.witnessingwhiteness.com.

Acknowledgments     v
Preface: A Work in Progress     vii
Introduction     1
Dis-Ease in the White Community
Naming the Problem     15
Facing the Dis-Ease     53
Uncovering a Hidden History     73
The Journey into Witnessing
Fellow Travelers: Engaging the Journey     113
Blindness at the Crossroads: Leaps of Faith     145
Connecting Visions: Whiteness in Sight     177
Interior Shadows: Lingering Racism     211
The Work of Witnessing Whiteness
How Do We Witness?     249
How Can We Create a Witnessing Culture?     299
Bibliography     331
Index     337
About the Author     341