Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

Such an important, helpful, educational, and timely book with real concrete language to help those of us who need to learn. I appreciated the honesty and clarity of the writing and think this book does a lot to help with some of the ideas that have contributed to problematic and terrible action. It's a great book for readers who want to do better.

WHITE PRIVILEGE UNMASKED by Judy Ryde is subtitled "How to Be Part of the Solution," but Ryde spends a great deal of the book laying out background and issues. The preview version that I saw was itself also British/Euro centric in terms of spelling (organised vs. organized) and content. An example of the latter is when she names eight benefits and privileges of being white: "just 'being normal'; political and economic arrangements; building on past wealth; the building of Britain's great cities; the supremacy of the English language; style of dress and white sport." Ryde argues that we are "still living off the proceeds of colonialisation" and are "imbued with attitudes from those times, even when we think they are not." She does attempt to explain differences between personal racism, institutional racism and cultural racism, but her analysis overall is quite wordy and repetitive without many practical ideas to fulfill her subtitle. Our faculty leadership is reading and discussing White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo instead.

I struggled with this book and I'm not sure exactly why. I think it's is a slow start that felt a bit repetitive and one I wasn't able to really get under the surface of. There was a lot of evidence based information but deeper understanding felt lacking, it was almost prescriptive. I am all for any book that sets us up for doing the work and leading the understanding of white privilege and challenging white feminism but there are better books and resources out there already and many provided by black women that deserve the recognition for their hard work and to be published.

I was really looking forward to this book as I agree that unacknowledged white privilege is at the core of problems around race.

I was disappointed as the book was neither one thing or another, trying to be a serious bit of research written in sound bites.

The research was well documented and broke the flow of the book far too often to make the reading comfortable or an enjoyable experience.

It, at times, felt as though the referencing was done to show off.

There is a strong message in this book but it got bogged down and lost more often than not.

It takes about 20% to warm up. I take it people who pick up this book are already in the know and I understand why she gives so much background, but it got a bit repetitive. She did the whole what I'm going to tell you, told you it and then told you what she told you and it was a bit much. Especially as she kept writing when she was going to tell you as well (i.e. in Chapter x, I'll discuss/etc.).

Once it got past the whole background, there were some profound observations. (The very fact of there being 'races' is part of racism, how the survey for how often you talk about race was every day for non-white people and maybe once a month for white people, how Obama had to be a certain type of black man to get elected while Trump just used his privilege and other ah ha moments I had). But it took a long time getting there, there wasn't much there and there still wasn't given much tangible solution. However I understand that solutions will be difficult and one has to be imaginative.

I found it annoying about the references in the parentheses, these could have been at the back of the book. Also, the charts didn't really show up, but I think it's because it's a net galley copy/uncorrected proof.

I also thought it was weird that she didn't mention Kimberlé Crenshaw when talking about intersectionality.

The part that needs to be taken out is about organisations and what to do there. It comes across like she is trying to sell me something and I think a person who picks up this book, is going to be looking at individual solutions.

It was almost written too simply but was functional. All and all, with some serious editing and cutting, this would be the sort of book I'd devour. I did enjoy it somewhat, but it needs some work.

NOTE: I do not think that Ryde's book is tailored to readers like me but I will do my best here to be objective about how I treat her book.

Sociologist Judy Ryde tackles lots of subjects in her new book including a history of racism, 'white privilege,' slavery, possible reparations, modern inequality, and a self-help guide for whites to uncover their unconscious racism and conscious benefits of their white privilege which will enable them to become educated about and more ready to come to terms with problems of racism that continue to persist.

At the core of Doctor Ryde's thesis is the idea that white privilege is an ongoing, deeply-indebted system which prioritizes the needs of white people over those of blacks. Furthermore, the inability of white people in the west to apologize for the past treatment of slaves is also viewed as the root of many modern problems, including climate change, the wage gap, neoliberalism, and racial tension.

Ryde identifies several examples of white privilege. This include: the idea inherent to white people that they are just normal, past wealth of western countries and Europe is built on slave labor, political and economic arrangements are constructed to benefit white people, sports are intentionally white, white peoples' style of dress is considered the dominant fashion, and the dominance of the English language. None of these ideas are pursued far enough to make a convincing argument about the prevalence of white privilege. Ryde then lists some examples of her white privilege and encourages the reader to do the same. These include the fact that she can meet someone she has previously contacted and this person is not surprised by her skin color, and that she can speak English, which enables her to be understood internationally without having to learn another langauge.

None of these ideas are comprehensively investigated and I do not understand how these examples constitute white privilege. They seem more like advantages skewed to a specific context. If I were to schedule a Skype call with someone in Senegal, the first situation would be reversed. If I were in China or Russia trying to interact, English would not get me very far. And so on.

This is a very large shortcoming in a book that seeks to comprehensively address white privilege. When she addresses whiteness, similar errors crop up. Quoting a source, she identifies whiteness as having a selfhood distinct from others, naturally on top of the social pyramid. Whiteness, she then points out, is also seen as the cornerstone of white peoples' identity. I do not see how this differs from individualism or the very basic idea taught to Elementary school students that you are unique. She says this is not a conscious admittance but an unconscious guiding principle, in consequence of which it is much more powerful and more difficult to eradicate. I do not deny that there are people who believe that they are vastly superior to others, but I would not say this is the case for two billion people. What she seems to be talking about then is arrogance, of which many people are guilty, not just whites. As far as whiteness being at the cornerstone of identity, I would deny this (I suppose that wouldn't surprise anyone). Other factors such as class, education, gender, sexuality, life experiences and so on have something to do with one's identity. If it would then be argued that all of these tie back to race, I don't see how that makes race any different from my personal identity, and if this is to be the argument, it would be useless doing anything to change it.

As some of these quips demonstrate, it is very difficult knowing just what Ryde wants to say and who she is is trying to convince with her arguments. Another example is her definition of racism, which she defines as prejudice plus power. It is of course quite different for a white person to call a black person a racist than the other way around, she says. This is very bizarre. First, this position of power is never identified. If it is power based on historically powerful peoples, who are these peoples? What about economic power? How far back the history? If it is historically powerful races, simply lumping white people together does not seem like an effective conclusion.

This is quibbling but it is the kind of thing these unexplored ideas lead to. Furthermore, Ryde is calling for a global apology plus reparations from white people responsible for historical wrongs, so the issue of racism is clearly central to her thesis.

Ryde's goal is laudable. She wants to make white people humbler and to hold accountable those responsible for past atrocities. Her aim is universal benevolence and a push for equality based on the formula of an addict's coming to terms with her addiction. People ought to take responsibility for past wrongs and to try and make themselves better. I sympathize with her goal, but her book does not achieve it.

Reviewed for Netgalley.

I wanted to and looked forward to reading this book due to its content, the current state of the nation, and the election of Donald Trump as President, which has ushered in a new level of hatred and overt racism. I was hoping to learn some new ways of engaging about my white privilege and how I can have open and honest dialogue about the rapid backward shift that is occurring in the U.S. since 2016.

The author did quite a bit of research and referred to several academic articles in the telling of the history of white privilege. Unfortunately, for me, it was not new information, and it did not provide new strategies or talking points, which I was hoping it would from the description.

It started off well, but then became too bogged down with the research and history-telling whereas I was hoping for more in-depth and concrete suggestions on how to have dialogues and communicate and how to be part of a solution to combat racism.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.