White Kids, by Margaret A. Hagerman

Toward the end of her book White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America, Margaret Hagerman writes, "Overall, from my point of view, this has not been a particularly hopeful book."  I would agree, but I would add that this has not been a particularly helpful book either.  Here's a news flash: white adolescents from well-to-do families may not have the most progressive views on race.  In fact, like any adolescent, their views on race (and everything) is fluid, immature, unformed.

Hagerman spends a whole book reproducing her conversations and observations from white kids and their families.  In doing so, she seeks to demonstrate that "white children receive the wages of race from very early ages and well into young adulthood."  That when white parents "fail to acknowledge inequality and racism . . . they are unintentionally complicit in the reproduction of it."  That even when parents "raise children in ways that truly cultivate antiracist praxis" they nevertheless receive "unearned white advantage and the benefits of class privilege."

Hagerman spends all her time talking to families in a thinly disguised, unnamed midwestern city.  (Based on the descriptions, and based on the fact that she taught at the University of Wisconsin, I'm guessing Madison.)  As a result, her sample size is quite limited.  When one thinks of a broadly diverse racial culture, I'm not sure Madison, Wisconsin comes to mind.  For many of these kids, the only black people they know are from poor and working class families.  In a larger metropolitan area, or in Southern cities, I suspect she'd find a wider array of black families.  (Come to Fort Worth and I'll introduce you to some.)

Despite the limited scope, she makes a few good points.  Many of the white families do value diversity.  They want their children to experience environments where they will interact with children of other races.  As Hagerman points out, though, wealthy white families have the option to choose their experiences.  Poor black families also want their children to interact with other races, but they are often not welcome, by tradition or simply an entry fee, at place or programs where white kids are participating.

White families do face a dilemma: like every family, we want the best for our kids.  But what if our kids have access to the best schools, programs, job opportunities, etc., because of our race, the (white) neighborhood we might live in, the financial status and generational wealth our family has (which black families haven't had an opportunity to have in prior generations), and other structural issues?  Do we then deny our own kids?  That way lies white guilt and racial restitution.  Hagerman's book sparks important conversations, but her whole tone and direction are not hopeful--or helpful.


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