As this book was being written, the UnitedStates exploded in outrage against the murder by police of people of coloracross the country. Corporations, branches of state and local government, and educational institutions all pledged to work for racial justice and the Black Lives Matters movement moved intothe mainstream as people from multiple racial and class identities pledgedtheir support to its message. Diversity initiatives abounded, mission statements everywhere were changed to incorporate references to racial justice, and the rampant anti-blackness endemic to US culture was brought strikingly to the surface. Everywhere, it seemed, white people were looking to learn aboutrace. "e;What do we do?"e; "e;How can we help?"e; These were the cries the authors heard most frequently from those whites whose consciousness of racism was beingraised.This book is their answer to those cries. It's grounded in the idea that white people need to start with themselves, withunderstanding that they have a white racial identity. Once you've learned aboutwhat it means to be white in a white supremacist world, the answer of "e;what can I do"e; becomes clear. Sometimes you work in multiracial alliances, but moreoften you work with white colleagues and friends. In this book the authors explore what it means for whites to move from becoming aware of the extent of their unwitting collusion in racism, towards developing a committed antiracistwhite identity. They create a road map, or series of paths, that people can consider traveling as they work to develop a positive white identity centered around enacting antiracism.The book will be useful to anyone trying tocreate conversations around race, teach about white supremacy, arrange staffand development workshops on racism, and help colleagues explore how to createan antiracist culture or environment. This work happens in schools, colleges and universities, and we suspect many readers will be located in K-12 and higher education. But helping people develop an antiracist identity is a project that occurs in corporations, congregations, community groups, health care, state and local government, arts organizations, and the military as well. Essentially, if you have an interest in helping the whites you interact with become antiracist, then this book is written very specifically for you.
