Being White Today - by Shelly Tochluk & Christine Saxman (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Being White Today's suggested approaches guide readers to make strategic choices for themselves and others that resist white nationalist recruitment and reveal the benefits of antiracist appeals.

Review Quotes

"Whiteness" is an acute field of battle in the political and cultural wars of this country. It continues to govern how we think, act, and interact. Can we move forward? Can we be un-trapped? Tochluk and Saxman say yes! Any further clarity on how we got here and where we need to go must consider the exhaustive and complex work they've contributed in this important book.

Based on their years of working with white people, Saxman and Tochluk's Being White Today offers keen insight and a wealth of suggestions for creating a positive, antiracist white identity and provides extensive practical tools for deepening our understanding and increasing our effectiveness in inviting other white people to join us in antiracism activism. Read this book to develop a white identity that will make you a more effective ally to people of color in the urgent multiracial struggle for racial justice.

Being White Today is more than just a book! It is a vital navigation tool, helping readers unpack white racial identity and the sense of responsibility and accountability required to dismantle racist ideologies and concepts. Christine and Shelly expertly take their readers on a journey that is authentic, vulnerable, and full of self-reflection. Using evidence-based research, this book engages your critical thinking and provides a road map to guide you through a cycle of transformation.

Being White Today should be required reading for every white person who identifies as antiracist. Further, it would serve parents and caregivers of white youth to take in the insightful lessons learned and shared by the book's authors. If we hope to create and sustain a truly inclusive, multiracial democracy, white people must know who they are racially, and more importantly, who they can be in the fight for liberation.

In the myriad of recent books centered on Whiteness and antiracism, Being White Today: A Roadmap for a Positive Antiracist Life by Tochluk and Saxman stands at the top of the must-read list. Through humanized narrative, real life examples, and multiple resources, White readers will engage in a life changing journey to becoming, and supporting, an antiracist society.

Social justice educators (of any background) who are looking for the most effective ways of working with White students will want to read this book. Using an understanding of White racial identity development, Tochluk and Saxman have created a resource that offers the tools needed to support students on their anti-racist learning journey.

The recruitment of white youth into white nationalism is accelerating, and it is imperative that we wake up to this reality. We cannot interrupt what we don't see or understand. Distinguishing between white people and whiteness, and with a foundation in racial identity development, Tochluk and Saxman draw from years of experience in the halls of education to guide our efforts. With its approach of compassion rather than shaming, this illuminating and pragmatic book needs to be in the hands of everyone who interacts with white youth today.

Tochluk and Saxman provide an enlightening guide for white people navigating their own racialized, white identity journeys. The authors utilize Janet Helms's model of white identity development, which includes various roles white people experience on their personal identity journey: contact, disintegration, reintegration, pseudo-independence, immersion/emersion, and autonomy.... By illustrating how common far-right and anti-racist messaging can hinder a person's white identity development, the authors provide ideas for disarming tactics that typically shut down conversations about race. They offer suggested approaches adapted to different roles, such as building relationships, offering perspective, cultivating curiosity, engaging in critical thinking, practicing self-care, and many others. Although the focus is on developing a healthful, positive, anti-racist white identity, the book also untangles ideologies leading to the rise in white nationalism. Being White Today is a must read for white educators and racial justice facilitators committed to sustaining their white identity journeys. Highly recommended. Faculty; professionals; general readers.

About the Author

Shelly Tochluk is a professor at Mount Saint Mary's University-Los Angeles. She is the author of Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It and Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice. Free, downloadable workshop agendas and handouts aligned with each book are available at ShellyTochluk.com. Shelly volunteers with AWARE-LA (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere-Los Angeles). For over a decade, she has co-produced AWARE-LA's 4-day summer institute titled, Unmasking Whiteness, which leads white people into a deeper understanding of their personal relationship to race, white privilege, and systemic racism.

Christine Saxman founded Saxman Consulting in the spring of 2020 where she provides racial and social justice training, facilitation, and coaching for educational, corporate, not-for-profit, and government organizations. She is a co-author of Western State Center's toolkit, Confronting Conspiracy Theories and Organized Bigotry at Home: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers. She also works on staff for the National SEED Project (Seeking Education Equity and Diversity). Prior to spending two years as an equity transformation specialist at Courageous Conversations About Race, Christine was an educator and equity leader at a suburban school district in Illinois. In 2016, she received recognition as an Illinois Golden Apple Finalist and Teacher of Distinction.