The subject of race and race relations has always been an issue in American society. Recently there has been a movement to raise the understanding of what it means to be white. Shelly Tochluk uses her book Witnessing Whiteness: First Steps Toward an Antiracist Practice and Culture as a tool to bring more volume to the necessary dialogue about what it means to be white, which still only takes place in the forms of whispers. I took an interest in this book both as someone who identifies as white, but also as someone who has read several pieces on this very subject.
The book begins by assessing ways in which white people avoid issues of race. These methods of avoidance can take the form of an unrelenting faith in the so-called equal protection provided by our laws, a dismissal of race, or a claim of colorblindness, to name a few. Tochluk takes each tactic she presents, explains what it means, how it appears in society, and how it is detrimental to race relations. Even though some people claim that the age of racism is long gone, Tochluk presents examples of its predominance in areas such as the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina. A white couple wading through water with food is described as finding it in a local grocery store, while a young black child is labeled as looting stores for his meal. Many of us would simply read over these different descriptions for the same act and never notice the differences.
The middle section of Witnessing Whiteness has by far the most impact, because of the personal connections the reader can form. Tochluk uses personal stories to help connect the reader to the revelations different people have had on the issue of race. The personal stories are parts of interviews with eight white people and eight people of color. These moments help readers strengthen their grasp on the concept of witnessing as it is not just the author explaining race and what it means to have unearned privileges or entitlements.
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