A powerful read about the ways in which structural racism seeps into our everyday lives. The author uses a variety of well-researched sources to lay out a strong and well voiced argument. A must read.

i did not finish this book but i am grateful for the opportunity netgalley has provided me! thank you!

White Privilege by Kalwant Bhopal is about race and bias in society and in areas such as education and employment.

This is a really powerful read, thought provoking, informative, totally unforgettable. And so true, coming from the life I’ve lead and experiences I’ve witnessed, at home and certainly abroad. And it hasn’t changed and I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. This was a great read. So well researched and well compiled. I highly recommend it.

good book. i think i struggled with some points but it was well written and informative. looking forward to a sophomore effort.

I enjoyed this book, however did think some of the material came across a little dry. It would be a good book for someone who has never read much about white privilege but I was looking for something new and felt that this book mainly rehashed what I have read elsewhere.

A very important primer on how whiteness gives individuals a leg up in the UK and USA. Each chapter examines a facet of the ways people of color are excluded from advancement in housing, education, labor markets, and so forth. Also notable are chapters about groups who aren't white enough and intersectionality. This is a scholarly work.

Bhopal takes an honest look at white privilege in British and American societies. There is a lot of talk about white privilege, but not many people know how many things happen as a result of white privilege. I use teachable moments to help my affluent students understand what white privilege is and this book offers invaluable examples that I will incorporate in the future.

It's taken me a couple of months to finish this book but I'm glad I did. Professor Kalwant Bhopal presents an academic text that analyses race relations in the US and UK, looking at racism in the labour force, education, housing, the limitations of equality policies, the Prevent agenda, and argues for a more complex understanding of whiteness in the UK in relation to traveller communities. These are just a few topics this book covers with a range of statistics, case studies, and analysis.

My copy of this book was an advance copy, and I found it a bit dry and repetitive overall and in need of some serious editing because it read like an early draft. However, don't count this against the book because I dont know what changes were made between this copy and the final publication.

I feel like a lot of analysis of race is very US centric so it was refreshing to read about UK race relations and the legal and educational facets of this, as well as comparisons to the US.
Also, it was interesting that Bhopal incorporated a complex view of whiteness in her analysis of traveller communities and how they are prejudiced against and ostracised in the UK and Europe.

Something I was unsure about was the use of the g slur in this section of the book. While Bhopal explained that it isn't a slur in the UK, I think that language is constantly evolving and even if it isn't officially classed as a slur here, it's got that reputation and connotation now and so should be treated sensitively.

Another part I appreciated was the analysis of the Prevent agenda and how it only divides us more and makes Muslim children targets for terrorist accusations and distrust in the UK.

Overall I would say it's a good reference book, saturated with data to present fact-based analyses of race in the UK and US, but based on the advance copy I read, I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it to those enjoying other, more stylised essays about race.

As a university student, my friends and I always heard rumours of the mythic 90% - that, if you managed to present a stellar essay, it would be published in some sort of academic journal. No one we knew ever managed it (the alcohol made sure of that) but White Privilege makes me wonder whether Kalwant Bhopal achieved the goal.
The book was comprehensive, I will give it that, featuring a wealth of information regarding racial inequality and marginalisation in both the United Kingdom and the United States, more extensive than any lecture I have ever sat through pertaining to the subject. But if only it didn’t read like an essay; like a mishmash of ideas that Kalwant Bhopal needed to dispel from his brain and get out onto the page as quickly as possible.
It presents a range of interesting facts and figures, but there’s no flow - absolutely none at all - and that is where White Privilege suffers. It could have been a perfect introduction for so many people who still remain oblivious to the information Bhopal presents, and yet the writing style acts as a barrier that I predict would prevent even the most willing student from pushing forward and learning more.
It is honestly such a shame, because this could have been so great. But writing in the area is new, I suppose, and I will most certainly keep an eye out for Bhopal’s successors.

I found this one a little too academic for me. I did like the first few chapters but then I found my attention wandering,

Recently I have learned that it is important to read books that are out of my comfort zone. I have been dipping my toes into the world of non-fiction and have found it both enjoyable and rewarding. However this time I decided to step out further, select a book that would probably not be enjoyable but I would learn a great deal from it.

Before going into this book I knew that it would be heavy going. I expected this not just from the content but due to the way the author writes. My heart sank ever so slightly when I realized it was academic work. I personally have never been particularly good at reading (or writing) academic work. There were times which I struggled to understand a word or a sentence (bless the dictionary) which sometimes made it feel as the book dragged on.

However, the topic did not bore me. In the last few years, I have been awakening to my own privilege yet it was clear there were things that I was still unaware of.

Kalwant goes into deep discussion talking about racism in schools, universities and the workplace and using data to back up arguments. It especially was interesting to see data from the UK and the US. Reading this book provided me with an insight into countless different ways that we can dismantle White Privilege and Supremacy.

I didn't "enjoy" reading this book because I don't believe that you are meant to. There were numerous times which I struggled to read the work and I wouldn't suggest trying to read this in one sitting. I was able to walk away afterward with my eyes having been opened widen.

The writing was a bit too academic to love, but it provided some insight for me, an American, about the problems regarding race in the UK and how they do/don’t overlap with those in the US.

Great read! While there are many books on race out right now, this one offers a more scientific breakdown of racial inequalities in the western world.

This book was a great read, I feel the narrative is one that still needs to happen, until people GET IT!

White Privilege – The Myth of a Post-Racial Society, written by Kalwant Bhopal, is a deeply researched and excellent study on how pervasive whiteness is and how white privilege operates at all levels of society in the UK (and the US). The book is chock full of relevant arguments and examples, as well as figures and studies to illustrate the arguments. Divided into 10 chapters, Bhopal leads us through main areas such as education, employment, and social environments where white privilege and (unconscious) bias continue to marginalize black and minority ethnic groups.

Tied into this discussion on white privilege, Bhopal brings up the very important point on how Neoliberalism has somewhat erased the need to focus on racial inequality and creates this false sense of a “post-racial” society, which is basically another way to whitewash the work we have to do to actually dismantle systemic racism and prejudice.

First off I really appreciate the insight into how deeply entrenched and ignored white privilege is in the UK. While it is my country of birth and citizenship I have now lived in the US longer than I lived in the UK and the perspective was very enlightening. I am recommending it to my friends and family in the UK as a must-read.

Bhopal is an academic, and White Privilege reads like a thesis rather than a story or a lot of non-fiction. The style is very dry and full of data, so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I personally don’t mind this, but I do find it easier if I break it up into several sittings rather than reading it in one go.

The focus on white privilege in education in the UK, and the importance of teaching so-called “British values” is poignant and important: it would behoove us all to look at our educational systems with a critical eye to see what we can do to effectively reverse bias and prejudice and make it really equal for everyone. The marginalization of black and minority groups rather than integration of diversity is an acute effect of this so-called “post-racial” society that pushes us to believe that racism is a thing of the past.

The chapter on bullying is also extremely important to read - especially for white people so they can understand how they (unconsciously) promote bias and prejudice in education at all levels. I also appreciate the chapter on Gypsy and Traveller units in the UK and how they fall outside the “acceptable white” group - I think this is a very important distinction to make as they have been notoriously marked as outcasts from society in general. (FYI the term Gypsy is not considered a slur in the UK, and “Gypsy and Traveller” is the official term used – this may shock the US reader if they are not aware of this).

To be honest I’m not so sure why there is a study of the US in the book. I think the research and study on the UK alone would have been absolutely perfect. The US part seems a little “tacked on at the end”, just because it isn’t a direct comparison (the US parts are much shorter and nowhere near as detailed as the UK parts, and not every UK discussion has a US counterpart).

All in all, White Privilege is an excellent study of why we cannot let ourselves believe that post-racism exists. In fact, believing that creates a larger void that we cannot ignore.

White Privilege will be published by Policy Press on April 6th, 2018. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance read!

A dense book filled with topic related jargon, White Privilege is not to be taken lightly. The heavy language can be off-putting to those not familiar with the terms but can be eye-opening to those willing to take the effort. In a world that consistently denies racism and white privilege alike, Kalwant Bhopal uses her voice to educate the masses with evidence and rationale.

White Privilege : un terme vu de nombreuses fois, décrié par certains, avec autant de définitions (évidemment contradictoires) que d'intervenants. J'ai donc choisi ce livre pour y voir plus clair. Le Brexit et l'élection de l'autre prouvent que, comme l'indique le sous-titre, la société post-raciale est un mythe. Kalwant Bhopal examine ici le fait que la race (le fait de ne pas être blanc ou, dans certains cas, pas d'un blanc acceptable) est une forme de désavantage dans la société moderne. Malgré les tentatives de la politique néo-libérale (c'est vraiment spécifique apparemment) de présenter une image d'inclusion, il existe toujours de grandes disparités entre les communautés blanche et noire (et autres minorités). Les inégalités ont été exacerbées plutôt que corrigées par le néo-libéralisme qui privilégie les identités blanches.

L'auteure traite de ces disparités dans différents domaines : éducation, enseignement supérieur, marché du travail, pauvreté, au Royaume-Uni (surtout) mais aussi aux États-Unis, qui malgré leurs grandes différences historiques, culturelles et sociales, sont des pays où les minorités restent marginalisées à des niveaux divers de la société où les identités blanches sont prédominantes.

J'ai trouvé ce livre intéressant dans l'ensemble, même si je ne suis pas sûre qu'il a répondu à toutes mes questions concernant le white privilege. Il ressemblait plus à une thèse universitaire mais comme je ne lis pas souvent des livres de ce type, je ne peux pas comparer. Le fait que l'auteure soit du Royaume-Uni explique peut-être aussi la structure déconcertante pour moi (moins conviviale, si je puis dire, qu'un livre américain). J'ai bien aimé les interviews même si j'ai trouvé les réponses un peu décalées (peut-être les personnes interrogées étaient-elles méfiantes). Elles donnent en tout cas des exemples concrets et flagrants de white privilege. Je dois avouer que ce livre m'a donné un sentiment de frustration et de pessimisme quant à l'avenir des minorités dans nos sociétés. Et une fois de plus, je me suis rendu compte à quel point j'ignorais la situation des minorités au Royaume-Uni.

The author of this book does a really great job of exploring the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and gender in relation to racism and white supremacy. Even though this is a relatively short but dense book, the role of neoliberalism in perpetuating the capitalist system which privileges white society and oppresses black and ethnic communities throughout the world is laid out clearly. I definitely recommend this book.

So let’s say you acknowledge white privilege exists. (If you don’t, you should back up and maybe read something like So You Want to Talk about Race.) But maybe now you’re wondering how much white privilege actually affects people, particularly when it comes to issues of education and the workplace. That’s what White Privilege: The Myth of a Post-Racial Society tackles. Kalwant Bhopal carefully and in great detail pieces together a picture of how American and British schools, universities, and places of business continue to discriminate in favour of white people. Thanks, NetGalley and Policy Press, for letting me read this eARC.

White Privilege is very much an academic research book, so know that going in. Unlike Ijeoma Oluo’s aforementioned book, this is not really a mainstream publication. That doesn’t mean I think only academics should read it—there’s a lot of interest in here for people outside the academy, particularly teachers and those interested in public policy. However, it is definitely very dry in tone, and Bhopal writes with the considered cadence of someone who really wants to define every term clearly and leave little to doubt. Each chapter is meticulously cited and has extensive endnote references (a good thing, of course). But an evocative read this is not.

Bhopal splits each chapter down the middle and addresses data from both the UK and the US. This is an interesting, informative approach. As a Canadian who has taught in the UK, I found the chapters focusing on UK secondary school education the most interesting. Much of what Bhopal describes dovetails and resonates with my own experience, which I’ll discuss presently. Other facets illuminate parts of my time there or only occurred after I left. In any event, it is clear that both the US and the UK (and Canada, but that’s outside of the scope of this book) have a long way to go in addressing racial inequity in education.

After graduating from my education degree in Canada, I taught in the UK for two years at an academy that primarily served students from a working class socioeconomic background. There was a mixture of white families and families predominantly of an Eastern European background, though there were definitely some Black families as well. While class was a large factor, I think, in the students’ attitudes towards school and their success, racial and ethnic background definitely contributed too. In particular, Bhopal hits the nail on the head when she examines the call to teach “British values” and other, similar movements, and how these replicate patterns of (white) cultural supremacy within the education system.

She’s also accurate when she points out that so many teachers in these systems are white and themselves under-prepared to teach racialized pupils. That was definitely me (I’m white, btw, if my avatar’s terrible fashion sense didn’t give that away). This is an oversight in our teacher education programs, but it’s also an artifact of my white privilege within a larger, white supremacist society. I’m aware of my privilege on an intellectual level, yet I’m also painfully aware I lack tools necessarily to relate to and understand the needs of some of my racialized students. This was the case when I was in the UK, and it is still sometimes the case now that I’m back in Canada and teaching adults, many of whom are First Nations. My toolkit has gotten better (thanks, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood and Indigenous Writes ). Still, thinking bigger picture, we need a seismic shift in the ways we prepare and train teachers at a system level.

White Privilege occasionally hints at or navigates around the periphery of the wider issue that the US and UK are still, in many ways, white-supremacist states. It would have been nice to see the book engage with this issue more directly—but perhaps that would verge too far into the polemical; Bhopal appears more interested in making concrete arguments backed up by data. As such, there is little I can disagree with in this book, but there are times when I feel it doesn’t quite go far enough—but maybe that’s just my revolutionary idealism speaking.

I can’t fault this book’s information, organization, or content. This is a strong work of academic writing with excellent details and an ironclad, logical presentation. I wish the writing were less dry. If you can handle this style, you’ll find lots in here about the topic of privilege and its practical consequences for education, among other things. However, this is also a good example of how it takes more than a solid understanding of data and a good thesis to write a great book. White Privilege is illuminating, but it lacks that final touch to really make a book shine.