WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Contrary to the opinion of many, you can give up whiteness and Jeff James, while taking you on a very personal journey of his own, provides readers with both solid research and compelling reasons to do so.”
— Skot Welch, Founder and President of Global Bridgebuilders, Co-Author of Plantation Jesus: Race, Faith and a New Way Forward
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ABOUT JEFF
Jeff James has been a leader in the technology, marketing consulting, and publishing industries for the past twenty-five years. He held numerous marketing leadership roles at Microsoft Corporation; launched and managed Mythology, a strategic marketing consulting firm; and was a vice president and publisher of business and leadership books and e-courses for HarperCollins Publishers. He has led transformational diversity, innovation, and marketing projects at organizations such as Aetna, Cisco, the Boy Scouts of America, and the International Justice Mission.
Jeff holds a Master of Science from West Virginia University in Labor Relations and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Eastern University in Organizational Leadership. His lifelong interest in diversity, inclusion and innovation led him to co-found Create West Virginia, a non-profit initiative to advance innovation economy opportunities in his home state. He currently lives in Philadelphia, PA.
ABOUT THE BOOK
It's one thing to know about white privilege. It's another to try to give it up.
Jeff James was one of the good white guys—or so he thought. But when he asked an African American friend how he could help fight the rising tide of racism, he had to think again. "Simple," she shot back, "get rid of whiteness."
Thus began his journey to discover, name, and dismantle the racial category that had defined and advantaged him for a lifetime. In Giving Up Whiteness, James leads readers on an intimate, humble, and disorienting investigation of what it means to be white in twenty-first-century America. He shares his discoveries on just how deeply the forces of race have shaped his own and other white people's choices about where to live, what causes to care about, who to marry, and what church to join.
With a blend of honest storytelling and incisive critique, James guides readers through the questions he encountered:
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How and why were race and, specifically, whiteness invented?
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What privileges and protections accrue to people categorized as white—and why has it been so difficult to expand them to everyone?
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How has the white Christian church bolstered white supremacy?
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Is it even possible to give up whiteness as an identity, and if so, what would it look like?
The things we can't see yield the most power, so it's time to take a hard look at whiteness. Ultimately, James writes, well-meaning white people have a lot of work to do and it's past time to get started.
“This book is a hard look at history, the racial invention of whiteness, the structures built around the protection of white supremacy, and a hopeful posture toward a more beautiful world where racism is confronted, condemned, and overcome. May it all come to be.”
-JEN HATMAKER
New York Times bestselling author
“With the spirit of an explorer, James invites us in to his quest to discover what divesting from whiteness looks like and whether or not it’s even possible. Personal storytelling at its best!”
-DEBBY IRVING
author of Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race
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ON SALE OCT. 6, 2020
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