Debby Irving

Irving’s memoir of growing up in the Boston suburb of Winchester, Massachusetts, surrounded by fellow White Protestants of British ancestry left her oblivious to the history of racism and its effects in the United States. She writes that she lived in “The exclusive world of thriving people raising thriving children.” As with other WASPs growing up in the Boston suburbs, as I did, she knew racism existed, but thought that it was a problem for people in the South and did not exist where she lived. She did not know its history or how it operated and continues to operate in the 21st century in ways only slightly different than it did in the past and that it was not a problem that existed only in the southeastern part of the country. Its roots started in Europe and were transplanted to this hemisphere by the first European colonists in the 17th century. Some of the strange fruit that it bore were devastating pandemics, genocide, and xenophobia.

Irving’s book, however, is not about the horrors and injustices of racism, it is about how its effects so permeated her early life, that it was almost invisible to her, and how, while meaning well, she conformed to the norms that perpetuated it. As her experiences living in a more urban and racially mixed environment gradually awakened her to its effects and her own inability to ameliorate them because of her lack of experience, as a white person to those effects. In short chapters she recounts her awakening, and at the end of each chapter gives her fellow white readers a few questions to ponder. This gives us a chance to deepen our understanding of the experience of Americans less melanin deprived than we.… (mere)

I have been reading a lot on this topic lately. This is one of the most approachable titles I've found. Short chapters draw you in. Good questions at the end of each to help you delve deeper into your own thinking. The queries would be great to get a book group talking. Because Ms Irving is so open about her own insensitive moments, she invites you to confess your own and be more honest with yourself. As always when reading a lot on a topic, I found repetition here, but also several gems that I hadn't considered. The more I read the more I know I don't know. I would recommend this to anyone. A great place to start if this is your first exploration of race. Good resources at the back. I would also suggest reading it with a friend or two. Discussion really helps.… (mere)