I still have so much to learn, but this book was so informative. ( )

This is a such an important book that most people really need to read. I borrowed it from the library but I am most likely going to buy my own copy at some point. ( )

This book is definitely insightful, and I have to insist that if white people are able to read it, that they do so, no matter how progressive you think you are, if not to solidify what you already know to be true. It's important that us as white people understand that you literally cannot be free of racism because racism is systemic. Break the cycle and learn about injustice in your social life that you may be blind to and how to call it out, and most importantly, how to call yourself out. ( )

Eye opening. Humbling. ( )

This is an extremely strong, powerful, and needed book. Its going to get overlooked, and bashed, and hated on by many, especially people of a certain type, voting a certain person into office, ...that type. You know the type, and you know who I mean.

The people you see in Facebook comments who go: "I don't see color." Or the people who say things like: "Its hard being white today! Everyone is calling us out! Its so hard to be us!" .....Those people. And especially THOSE people who voted for Trump; they are the ones who most need to read this. Sadly, I'm sure they are the ones who never will. Its almost like a racism form of Dunning-Krueger. "I have a black friend. I can't be racist." No. You don't have a black friend. You have a black co-worker who has gone out for drinks with you two times, and probably deeply resented that one comment you made a long ass time ago that you didn't even realize you made because you were on Mad Elf #4 and didn't even realize your own inherent racism or racist standards or prejudices or stereotyping.

The people who say, "Its more about class than race" now adays. They need to read this. The people who don't understand, or are unwilling to understand. They need to read this.

Yes. Obvious fact incoming: Racism is bad. Obvious statement is obvious. Lynching a black man is racist. Nobody is equating you (you = white person) with lynching a black man. But there are other, small, unnoticeable (to white people; not to those of color) things that you do, or even accept, that is racist. Being white is not good or bad. Being racist is bad; but unknowingly doing racist things doesn't make you bad or good. It just makes you unknowing, and ignorant.

We are all guilty of ignorance, all creeds, all colors, all spectrums. I'm ignorant of how my car runs. I'm ignorant of how many of the ways in which our own world operates. Sadly I don't know enough about Canadian or British politics. How does the Queen of England even work?! BUT.... I also know, I am ignorant of what exactly it is like to be a black man. I am not a black man. I will never be a black man. I will not understand fully what it means to be a black man.

That, is why, we all, white especially; need to listen. Stop saying auto-reply - #AllLivesMatter in response to #BlackLivesMatter. Stop saying "One bad cop doesn't mean their all bad." These are stupid, generic statements that we all understand. Yes, all lives do matter. But, read the room, understand things, have some level of empathy. KNOW before speaking sometimes. KNOW you are ignorant. KNOW your statement sounds stupid, is off-putting, and demoralizing to many; especially those of color.

We all live in a bubble of ignorance, but we can at least attempt to break out of it, reading books like this - reading books from other people's experiences, books from authors we would never have been given in high school, in a typical rural American high school, where you are given Gatsby, Steinbeck novels, where the only level of 'racism' we get given is To Kill a Mockingbird. Pick up books by Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Hiroki Murakami, etc, etc, etc, etc. Read. Learn. Listen. Grow.

Talk to your friends of different ethnicity, learn how you are received, perceived, have actual honest discussions with them. SEE how they SEE you. Don't THINK inside your head how they SEE you. I guarantee its not the same. I guarantee you are not HOW you think you. Nobody is, even to their closest friends, to their spouses, children, etc, even to people of their own race, you are not SEEN and PERCEIVED the way you THINK you are. So learn, grow, talk to that one black co-worker you had two beers with three years ago. Ask him "How do I come off? How are things going? How can I be better?"

Read books like this, that show you how to take those steps. Read articles, watch TEDx Talks, learn from people of other groups, religions, creeds, colors, philosophies, countries, learn what their lives are like or were like. Learn what it was like to be a Jew in Germany in the 20s and 30s leading up to WWII. Don't just take it for granted. There is 9Billion some people on this earth, if you aren't reading, and are just watching the spoon-fed Hollywood bullcrap, you are getting about a ~
Learn, grow, experience, and then come to terms with who you are, how you are, why you are. Being white is not a crime. Nobody is saying that. Reparations aren't even required. But understand yourself. Understand your role in society. Understand your placement. Understand your role in racism. Understand how there is an inherent white privilege even when you don't see it, because of your set of circumstances. (Growing up poor white is still different than growing up poor black, or Latino, or Asian, or Gay, or Female, or Male, or brown, etc, etc, etc.)

Everyone was handed a different hand, and even a different deck of cards. Your hand might be great, or it might be horrible, but you might still have a great deck of cards to work with. Or, you might have been given a great hand but still be in a bad deck of cards, or you might have been given a shitty hand and an even shittier deck of cards.

The biggest thing is, we are all in this together. We are all people, and understanding how we can help ALL people, is the only way forward. ( )