{"id":37476,"date":"2020-04-08T15:49:15","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T19:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37476"},"modified":"2021-01-07T11:57:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T15:57:16","slug":"review-of-me-and-white-supremacy-by-layla-f-saad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37476","title":{"rendered":"Review of Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Me and White Supremacy<\/p>\n

Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor<\/em><\/p>\n

by Layla F. Saad<\/p>\n

Sourcebooks, 2020. 242 pages.
\nReview written March 29, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review
\n2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>: #3 General Nonfiction<\/p>\n

Wow. Me and White Supremacy<\/em> is a book full of gut punches. This isn\u2019t a book to read; it\u2019s a book to work through, along with a journal. And I\u2019m afraid that when you\u2019ve finished the book, your work isn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n

There are twenty-eight days of work here, so you\u2019re going to have to renew it if you use a library book. Might as well purchase your own copy, since you\u2019ll want to go back and think about these things again. My first time through brought me new awareness and new understanding of issues I\u2019d never grappled with before. And it also made me aware that is only the beginning. I haven\u2019t graduated; I\u2019ve only begun.<\/p>\n

Here are some paragraphs from the note to the reader at the beginning of the book, to help you understand what this book is trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n

Dear Reader,<\/p>\n

How did you feel the first time you saw the title of this book? Were you surprised? Confused? Intrigued? Uncomfortable? Maybe all of the above? I want to begin by reassuring you that all those feelings and more are completely normal. This is a simple and straightforward book, but it is not an easy one. Welcome to the work.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Layla, and for (at least!) the next twenty-eight days, I\u2019m going to be guiding you on a journey to help you explore and unpack your relationship with white supremacy. This book is a one-of-a-kind personal antiracism tool structured to help people with white privilege understand and take ownership of their participation in the oppressive system of white supremacy. It is designed to help them take responsibility for dismantling the way that this system manifests, both within themselves and within their communities.<\/p>\n

The primary force that drives my work is a passionate desire to become a good ancestor. My purpose is to help create change, facilitate healing, and seed new possibilities for those who will come after I am gone. This book is a contribution to that purpose. It is a resource that I hope will help you do the internal and external work needed to become a good ancestor too. To leave this world in a better place than you found it. The system of white supremacy was not created by anyone who is alive today. But it is maintained and upheld by everyone who holds white privilege \u2013 whether or not you want it or agree with it. It is my desire that this book will help you to question, challenge, and dismantle this system that has hurt and killed so many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ll be honest \u2013 I was somewhat skeptical even after reading the introduction. I still didn\u2019t realize all I didn\u2019t realize.<\/p>\n

Here are more of the author\u2019s words. (This isn\u2019t everything \u2013 please read the book for yourself, but this gives you an idea of what you\u2019ll find here.)<\/p>\n

Many white people hear the words white supremacy<\/em> and think That doesn\u2019t apply to me<\/em>, that they don\u2019t hold that belief but rather that they believe that all of us are equal and that they don\u2019t modify their treatment of people based on the color of their skin. What this book, which is a deep-diving self-reflection tool, will help you to realize, however, is that that isn\u2019t true. White supremacy is an ideology, a paradigm, an institutional system, and a worldview that you have been born into by virtue of your white privilege. I am not talking about the physical color of your skin being inherently bad or something to feel shame about. I am talking about the historic and modern legislating, societal conditioning, and systemic institutionalizing of the construction of whiteness as inherently superior to people of other races. Yes, outwardly racist systems of oppression like chattel slavery, apartheid, and racial discrimination in employment have been made illegal. But the subtle and overt discrimination, marginalization, abuse, and killing of BIPOC in white-dominated communities continues even today because white supremacy continues to be the dominant paradigm under which white societies operate.<\/p>\n

So we must call a thing a thing.<\/p>\n

We must look directly at the ways in which this racist ideology of white supremacy, this idea that white equals better, superior, more worthy, more credible, more deserving, and more valuable actively harms anyone who does not own white privilege.<\/p>\n

If you are willing to dare to look white supremacy right in the eye and see yourself reflected back, you are going to become better equipped to dismantle it within yourself and within your communities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book explains concepts such white privilege, white fragility, tone policing, white silence, white superiority, white exceptionalism, color blindness, anti-Blackness, racist stereotypes, cultural appropriation, white apathy, white centering, tokenism, white saviorism, optical allyship, and many more ideas. You\u2019re asked to look at your own life and heart to see when these things have shown up. And you\u2019re asked about your values and commitment to make changes.<\/p>\n

The author approaches all this with compassion. I love this paragraph at the end of the first week\u2019s work, and I think it shows the consistent attitude she takes toward this work:<\/p>\n

On this reflection day, I want to remind you that we are not looking for the happy ending, the teachable moment, or the pretty bow at the end of all learning. We are also not looking for dramatic admissions of guilt or becoming so frozen with shame that you cannot move forward. The aim of this work is not self-loathing. The aim of this work is truth \u2013 seeing it, owning it, and figuring out what to do with it. This is lifelong work. Avoid the shortcuts, and be wary of the easy answers. Avoid the breaking down into white fragility. Question yourself when you think you have finally figured it out \u2013 there are always deeper layers, and you will continue to reflect even more as you continue on with this work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book is a challenge \u2013 and it\u2019s a challenge I didn\u2019t conquer. But it did begin to open my eyes.<\/p>\n

I highly recommend this book to anyone with light skin.<\/p>\n

laylafsaad.com<\/a>
\nsourcebooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Nonfiction\/me_and_white_supremacy.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>