This book asserts the distinctive place that whites can take in the fight for racial justice, bringing together interviews with white antiracist activists from across North America. Avoiding the typical white options of being 'nonracist' or feeling guilty, these whites demonstrate the multitude of ways whites can be proactive in combating modern racism. These activists, of both genders and all ages, have arrived at their antiracist commitments through several different yet typical paths. These whites struggle to transform individuals, institutions, and themselves, to varying degrees, incurring risks as well as rewards along the way. Their affiliations with antiracist organizations, or lack thereof, play a crucial role in the differences among them and their approaches to antiracist work. The whites who are involved with antiracist groups come predominantly from either Anti-Racist Action or the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, and the contrast between these two groups woven throughout the analysis leads to the conclusion that there are different types of antiracism. Although unity among them may not be possible or even desirable, acceptance of a broader concept of racism by all antiracists is one of the ending suggestions for the future of antiracism.

About the Author
Eileen O'Brien is professor of sociology at SUNY-Brockport.

Reviews
Useful in offering revealing portraits of white antiracist activists. * CHOICE *
Whites Confront Racism is an interesting book and an important study on antiracism as a social movement led predominately by whites. * American Association for Higher Education & Accreditation Bulletin *
Whites Confront Racism is worth the short time it takes to read. It could also make for a good supplementary text in an undergraduate race relations or social movements course. * Contemporary Sociology *
In this brilliant and pioneering book, O'Brien provides the first study of antiracist activists. Using innovative field research, O'Brien shows how individual and group acts of resistance are critical to challenging persisting racism in the U.S. She explores how groups like the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond and Anti-Racist Action are working to help local citizens, officials, and community activists to better understand diversity and undo racism in their own lives and organizations. -- Joe R. Feagin, author of The First R



Book Information
ISBN 9780742515826
Author Eileen O'Brien
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 290g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 154mm * 12mm