UNRAVELING WHITENESS: TOOLS FOR THE JOURNEY

Participating in unraveling whiteness is a journey - an arduous, difficult journey with many obstacles, especially for white people. 

Designed for emerging diversity courses, Unraveling Whiteness: Tools for the Journey examines what it means to be white instead of examining only the position, history, and experiences of people of color. 

The goal of Judy Helfan and Laurie Lippin, Ph.D.’s Unraveling Whiteness: Tools for the Journey is not to place blame, but to better understand the role of white people in the circumstances that surround privilege and oppression.

Unraveling Whiteness: Tools for the Journey makes whiteness and white privilege visible, revealing the cultural and institutional structures that keep white dominance in place. The book is both a workbook and a reader, providing tools for examining what it is to be white in the U.S., for addressing fear and guilt as barriers to dismantling racism, and for identifying the small daily acts and larger organized movements that further the struggle for social justice and equality. It includes analytical essays, narratives, and poems from a variety of diverse perspectives. Numerous experiential exercises integrated within the publication aid the reader in deepening learning through one’s own life experiences.

Unraveling Whiteness: Tools for the Journey is divided into six sections (Whiteness, White Privilege, Voices, Fear, Guilt and Shame, and Actions). Each section has an overview, readings, exercises, and questions for the reader to consider and write about. The workbook is interactive by providing both individual and group/partner activities to enhance the learning experience.