Robin Clifford Wood
  • Home
  • Author bio
  • BOOKS
    • ESSAYS/ARTICLES
    • poetry
  • Events
    • newsletter archive
  • Media/Press
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Author bio
  • BOOKS
    • ESSAYS/ARTICLES
    • poetry
  • Events
    • newsletter archive
  • Media/Press
  • Blog
  • Contact




​blog: You'll Never Be Quite the Same

"Waking up White" by Debby Irving

7/13/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

            I was deeply skeptical that a race-themed book written by a white person could be meaningful or useful, but Irving’s memoir shook me profoundly where I’d hoped to find it worthless. Certainly it recounts plenty of “no, duh,” old-news about race, culture, whiteness, identity, and privilege. But if I look back not so many years, I recognize much of the author’s naiveté in my own past.
            Irving and I share startlingly similar pasts – born in 1960 to prosperous, loving, WASP families; a sunny outlook on life and opportunity; raised to approach “the underserved” with respect and benevolence rather than solidarity; desperate to be “a good person.” The book’s definitions of “white dominant culture” may be foreign to many, but they hit home for me.
            I applaud Irving’s courage in publishing her story, her hard-earned, unfolding awareness of the depths of our systemic, centuries-ingrained, racist culture. If she succeeds in opening more white minds, her book is worth a lot.

             
My 60th year in 60,000 words
Day 321: 159 words, TOTAL = 52,362; 7,638 remaining

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Robin Clifford Wood is an award-winning author, poet, and writing teacher.  She lives  in central Maine with her husband, loves to be outdoors, and enjoys ever-expanding horizons through her children, grandchildren, and granddogs.

    To read about the "60th year in 60,000 words" challenge, go to the August 27th blog post. 
    ​
    https://www.robincliffordwood.com/youll-never-be-quite-the-same---blog/tomorrow-is-launch-day
    ​

    Archives

    February 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly