If you are white, you are more than likely a racist. If you object to this statement and declare you are not a racist, Kerry Connelly will vehemently insist you are wrong. She fills her book Good White Racist? Confronting Your Role in Racial Injustice with plenty of anti-white accusations and finger-wagging. What's that you say, you work with black people? You have black neighbors? Some of your best friends are black? You married a black person? You adopted a black child? Don't kid yourself. You. Are. A. Racist. Maybe even a white supremacist. You are "using people we say we care about as props to create a universe in which we are always good."



Anyone who is an actual racist won't give a flying flip about what Connelly has to say. But anyone who has friends and family members from other races, and who really believes that racism is horrible, will be irritated and annoyed by Connelly's "arguments." I think she's writing this book as a penance for her own past racism.



I want to give a couple of examples of the absurdity of this book. These examples aren't necessarily the core of her argument, but illustrate her perspective. First example: Connelly remotely interviewed a "queer latinx" writer for her podcast. Even though the interview was not face-to-face, Connelly felt like they had a good rapport, and carried on a correspondence with her, with plans to get together at some point. In an online exchange, she said, "one of these days, my friend, a meal together." The writer was deeply offended that Connelly called her "friend" when they had never met face-to-face, because "as a latinx, I take friendship seriously," unlike "white folks [who] have a habit of assuming particular relationality when there has been no defining of relationality." Now, I have lived among Hispanics, and have known them to be exceedingly friendly, welcoming, and dedicated to family and friends. "Mi casa su casa" and all that. I don't think this latinx writer rebuked Connelly's friendliness due to race, but due to the fact that she is thin-skinned, over-sensitive y groserx. But to Connelly, she bows to accusations of racism because, well, she's a "good white racist."



Second example: For this one, I will quote her at length because I find it so ridiculous. (She is favorably referencing work by another author.)

A white child would understand that the question "Is that where the scissors belong?" really means, "Put the scissors on the shelf," while a child who had not been raised with this type of coded language might receive the question as a literal one, with several possible answers. His response would be considered cheeky at best; at worst, it would reinforce a "problem child" label.

To attribute such a miscommunication to racism seems racist in itself. It reminds me of Joe Biden's gaffe: "Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids." People like this attribute any behavioral or academic differences to race, rather than poverty, parents' education levels, home environment, or other non-racial factors. I have known plenty of well-behaved, respectful students who understand the "codes" of the classroom perfectly, not because they are conforming to whiteness, but because their parents taught them manners, courtesy, and self-discipline. Parents of any race can and do raise kids this way.



One stylistic point: Connelly has a potty mouth. The book is full of casual swearing that takes away from her arguments, with a style and tone that makes social media interactions look scholarly. She even draws attention to it at one point with that stupid old trick, "If you're more offended by my swearing than by the larger point I'm making, then, well, you're beyond help." Yes, I agree, clergy accepting slave children as a tithe was horrible, much worse than using the F-word, but that doesn't mean I think it's constructive or acceptable to use the F-word to make a point about this or any other moral argument.



Writing Good White Racist? was probably a good exercise for Connelly. I'm sure she feels better about herself for writing it. But I think she missed the mark and will only annoy her intended audience. Racism is bad. So is this book. I didn't need to read this book to know that racism is bad. Neither do you.





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Definitely written in a way that opened my eyes to reality. For Caucasians, our lives from birth are about whiteness and it just doesn’t register because that’s what we know. You will gain a new perspective and way of thinking after reading this book but it will take time to break old, ingrained habits and patterns.

This is a book about race by a white woman for white people.

If you are a white Christian who doesn’t believe privilege, racism or white supremacy exists today this book is for you. If you are a white Christian. This book is for you. If you are a white American Christian, this book is for you. It’s to offended us, make us uncomfortable, make us think and then break and reshape our perspectives. However, if you really NEED to read this book, you will likely not buy it. It will likely be read by white people who are already actively seeking this information elsewhere.

Without a doubt there is nothing written in this book that hasn’t already been better written by a black author. However, hearing these things from a white Christian may help people relate to the information differently.
I liked the learn, think, act challenges that the end of each chapter. I thought the section on white tribalism and neurology was a great addition.

I wanted to love this book. I want to recommend it to every white Christian I know (as I think that is the target audience) however I found the from the intro Kerry had me totally struggling to dig in. Not because I am uncomfortable with the material, I actually embrace uncomfortable conversations about race because I feel like I am being transformed into a better wife and mother. But Kerry Connelly’s delivery is not as engaging as I’d hope for a book like this. I don’t know if she’s trying too hard or maybe it’s me- because this is my first introduction to her I am having a hard time hearing her voice and understanding her intentions. If you already like this author you may not wrestle the same way that I did.

I eventually made it through the book and I think it’s a good introduction to understanding racial injustice in America. It is also a good springboard to help make changes. Kerry clearly has done incredible work and research. The book is well organized. The author references incredible work done by people of color, hopefully reading this book will lead us all to read those works as well.

The publisher made a copy of this book available through Netgalley. The opinion and thoughts here are my honest review.

I was not a fan of this book. I was excited to read it, but that quickly dissipated. I firmly believe white people should be involved in the conversation on racism, but this felt forced somehow. Using words like interwebz and hella in a book on this topic makes it seem like you’re trying to make light of something serious.

I appreciated this take on how to dismantle white privilege. I do feel that "Good White Racist" is a book for beginners who are just beginning to scratch the surface of racial tensions. I did like how Kerry broke down common insensitive and racist comments such as "I don't see color" and why this is a problem in the effort for reconciliation. I think that is the most useful piece of the book.

Good white racist by Carrie Connelly is a very thought provoking read. This book was not what I thought it would be.

Emotionally driven, language is too casual, the tone is too lax. Honestly expected a higher quality from this publisher.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy.
I got occasionally annoyed at the tone of this--I think the author was trying awfully hard to be hip and cool, and occasionally she really leaned on the jargon. But this was a pretty good summation of how not to be a racist jerk for white people.

“I don’t see color”, “I have many black friends”, “I am white, but not privileged”, “All lives matter”, “I am color blind”….Most of us have heard our friends and family say these words or we have said similar words at one point or another in our lives. Connelly dismantles every one of these beliefs while writing passionately without mincing any words. She has done the hard work of learning, listening and talking about race. She is gutsy and I commend her. You will read about terms such as microaggression, gaslighting and cultural appropriation, you will squirm and be uncomfortable. It is meant to make us uncomfortable, reflect and question ourselves. It is a must-read for every white person.

Good White Racist really hits on many points that are hard to explain well when trying to help people understand white privilege. It maps out an informed way of how white privilege isn’t something in need of defending, rather than it is in acknowledging, understanding, and changing so the world can have a better level of equality and justice. Many white people (especially older ones) feel like they are being attacked for being white, so they immediately go on the defensive. They feel like 1) it’s something they can’t change, 2) it’s something they aren’t ashamed of, and 3) if they accepted that white privilege is ‘real,’ they are rejecting the hard work they have put into anything they have accomplished in life. Good White Racist really states applicable facts from a white person that other white people can easily relate to. Kerry Connelly addresses some of the feelings that white people face when confronted with white privilege and gives a better understanding that no one is accusing white people of only getting ahead in life based on their skin color, yet their skin color didn’t hurt their probabilities of getting ahead.

At first I did feel the book was directed more for older generations who don’t really understand the basics of the issue, until I learned some new things that I hadn’t considered (which was my deciding factor in giving this book the extra star.) There are parts that are hyperbole, and I understand the need, but I think those parts really lost me. Because I am white, I know most of my comments will be written off as that, however, I don’t feel white people should walk around holding their heads in shame or guilt simply due to the fact they are white, because that feels just as wrong. I don’t agree that any POC’s can be rude to any WP simply because they are angry; the book really missed the mark on that. Connelly did address this lightly, but again she missed the mark on expressing it well to white people. At times it seems the book was written solely for WP, to truly help (and those parts are phenomenal,) however, at other times it seems it was written for POC to maybe show how much the author understands, and that’s not really the demographic the book was angled to be targeting, so that felt a bit shady. It also is targeted as a Christian book (the author does address this next comment) but it Curses.In.Print. which many will agree doesn’t make you not a Christian, but it does make you offensive on purpose and I think many of the targeted Christian audience may lay it down because of that, which to me seems counterproductive.

There are so many levels of feelings, misunderstanding, anger, fear, frustration, and overall miscommunication based on individual perception and opinion with the overall problem, that I think the book could’ve been much more groundbreaking had it omitted some of the hyperbole and opinions. I had hoped this would be a book (much like White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo) that I could buy for some of my family members that are older in hopes they could see some of the truths they are missing (because they automatically go on the defensive,) unfortunately, I don’t think in the end it fits that need and I am sad about it. Still, I did learn some new things which were pretty shocking to me about myself, (since I really feel connected/informed/passionate about the problem of human inequality) and for that this book gets a big 4-star!

Thanks to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox Press for the ARC in return for my honest review

Connelly takes a dive into the topic of racism by looking at it through the lens of white privilege. She doesn't try to make the reader comfortable, quite the opposite. The reader is supposed to feel uncomfortable by confronting attitudes that they may not realize they have and being aware and willing to face those biases and change them. Although I'm not the demographic that Connelly is writing this book for, I do think that it is an important read for anyone. I think it is just as important to understand where other people's views of race come from as well as your own.