R&L Education
Pages: 268
978-1-60709-258-2 • eBook • January 2010 • $41.50 • (£35.00)
An educator, with a background in psychology, Shelly Tochluk spent ten years as a researcher, counselor, and teacher in California's public schools. Tochluk now trains educators to work with the diverse Los Angeles school population as an Associate Professor of Education at Mount St. Mary's College.
Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 2 Part I: Dis-Ease in the White Community
Chapter 3 Naming the Problem
Chapter 4 Facing the Dis-Ease
Chapter 5 Uncovering a Hidden History
Part 6 Part II: The Journey into Witnessing
Chapter 7 Fellow Travelers: Engaging the Journey
Chapter 8 Clearing the Way: Whiteness in Sight
Chapter 9 Blindness at the Crossroads: Leaps of Faith
Chapter 10 Interior Shadows: Lingering Racism
Part 11 Part III: The Work of Witnessing Whiteness
Chapter 12 How Do We Witness?
Chapter 13 How Can We Create a Witnessing Culture?
This book provides a compelling look at what it means to be white in America. It not only provides insight for white people, it can also be a valuable tool for people of color as together folks strive to work and live into accountable anti-racist relationships.
— Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing and Training
With refreshing honesty and forthrightness, Shelly Tochluk's Witnessing Whiteness invites readers—especially those of us who are white—to tread into the difficult terrain of confronting racism. Using rich storytelling and frank self-reflection, she skillfully engages readers in acknowledging, examining, and then taking on responsibility for racism and the work needed to dismantle it. This powerful and very readable book leads us through a clear analysis of why and how white people remain ignorant of and afraid to acknowledge racism, to laying out a practical framework for action. This book is an indispensable resource for white people who sense that racism is wrong, but don't know where to start.
— Christine Sleeter, author of Un-Standardizing Curriculum, professor emerita, California State University Monterey Bay
Witnessing Whiteness is a rare and precious gem in the national literature on race and privilege. Shelly Tochluk provides readers of this comprehensive volume with a well-crafted blend of personal and analytical material, which will prove helpful for anyone lucky enough to read it. Unraveling the knot of privilege and unawareness that so often binds white Americans and weakens the struggle for racial justice is a crucial task; and Witnessing Whiteness is a brilliantly honed tool for helping with that unraveling process.
— Tim Wise, author of White Like Me and Between Barack and a Hard Place
Accessing the amazing experiences and wisdom of activists, thinkers, writers, and mythologists on the front lines of racial issues in this country, Shelly Tochluk brings to light the most important book about race in a generation. Is 'whiteness' bad in itself? When is it just part of the social, historical and cultural legacy of a people? And what is the prison/poison that this legacy bequeaths us? I highly recommend this book-it's helping raise race dialogue to a more healing and regenerative ground.
— Luis J. Rodriguez, author of Always Running and Hearts & Hands
Witnessing Whiteness explains why not paying attention to race is a problem, and how avoiding race ruins well-meaning service efforts. The book includes personal stories about how readers can develop a healthy sense of racial identity and address racial conflict. The author invites readers to take action steps to stop racism and create more just communities.
— Gettysburg Times