Waking Up White

Debby Irving

Synopsis: The true story of one woman’s journey to understanding white privilege, racism, and her role in it.

The timing of this review is somewhat poignant to me given the current social climate of the United States right now. The name George Floyd is being chanted through streets all over the country, and tensions are running high. However, it is because of these events that I am grateful I started reading this book when I did. I do not pretend to know what it feels like to be a black person living in America, but after reading this book I do feel that I have a better understanding of how to be an ally to the black community.

I have spent the majority of my life living in very white communities, having little to no interaction with black people, or people of color in general. When my husband and I purchased our home, we were excited to be in an area where we would be surrounded by people of all different colors and walks of life. This was something we desperately wanted for our son. Over the last few years, through various conversations with different people, and being exposed more to different cultures myself, I started asking more questions about racism and how it is truly defined. It was during this time that I came across a book list entitled, “Books to read if you want to know what life is like for people of color in America.” One of those books was Waking Up White.

If you are a white person looking to gain a better understanding of racism and privilege, Waking Up White is a wonderful place to start. If we are going to understand racism, I think we need to start with being able to accept some truths. One of those being: White privilege is alive and well, and if you are white, you have it. Understanding that reality is step one.

Waking Up White does an absolutely fantastic job of not only explaining what it means to have white privilege, but of putting things in a historical context, so we are better able to see how things that happened throughout the course of American history still effect us today. I also appreciated that I didn’t feel like it was written as a white woman who has it figured out explaining to other white people what racism is. Rather it is a woman telling the story of her journey toward her own understanding of privilege. Ms. Irving very openly describes her struggles in understanding, as well as mistakes she made, and what she learned from them. She is by no means trying to convince us that she has it all figured out.

The level of honesty and humility Ms. Irving shows in this book is refreshing. She is straightforward when describing her background, her own naivete, and her regrets. She proves by example that it’s ok to admit that you don’t know what you don’t know, and also demonstrates that it’s possible to learn.

There are so many fantastic books out there, so many brave people who have been willing to share their stories so that we can better understand. I urge you to read Waking Up White and others like it, and stand up for our brothers and sisters of color. If we don’t step outside our comfort zone, nothing will change.