Good White Racist, by Kerry Connelly

If you are white, you are more than likely a racist.  If you object to this statement and declare you are not a racist, Kerry Connelly will vehemently insist you are wrong.  She fills her book Good White Racist? Confronting Your Role in Racial Injustice with plenty of anti-white accusations and finger-wagging.  What's that you say, you work with black people?  You have black neighbors?  Some of your best friends are black?  You married a black person?  You adopted a black child?  Don't kid yourself.  You. Are. A. Racist.  Maybe even a white supremacist.  You are "using people we say we care about as props to create a universe in which we are always good."

Anyone who is an actual racist won't give a flying flip about what Connelly has to say.  But anyone who has friends and family members from other races, and who really believes that racism is horrible, will be irritated and annoyed by Connelly's "arguments."  I think she's writing this book as a penance for her own past racism.

I want to give a couple of examples of the absurdity of this book.  These examples aren't necessarily the core of her argument, but illustrate her perspective.  First example: Connelly remotely interviewed a "queer latinx" writer for her podcast.  Even though the interview was not face-to-face, Connelly felt like they had a good rapport, and carried on a correspondence with her, with plans to get together at some point.  In an online exchange, she said, "one of these days, my friend, a meal together."  The writer was deeply offended that Connelly called her "friend" when they had never met face-to-face, because "as a latinx, I take friendship seriously," unlike "white folks [who] have a habit of assuming particular relationality when there has been no defining of relationality."   Now, I have lived among Hispanics, and have known them to be exceedingly friendly, welcoming, and dedicated to family and friends.  "Mi casa su casa" and all that.  I don't think this latinx writer rebuked Connelly's friendliness due to race, but due to the fact that she is thin-skinned, over-sensitive y groserx.  But to Connelly, she bows to accusations of racism because, well, she's a "good white racist."

Second example: For this one, I will quote her at length because I find it so ridiculous.  (She is favorably referencing work by another author.)

A white child would understand that the question "Is that where the scissors belong?" really means, "Put the scissors on the shelf," while a child who had not been raised with this type of coded language might receive the question as a literal one, with several possible answers.  His response would be considered cheeky at best; at worst, it would reinforce a "problem child" label.

To attribute such a miscommunication to racism seems racist in itself.  It reminds me of Joe Biden's gaffe: "Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids."  People like this attribute any behavioral or academic differences to race, rather than poverty, parents' education levels, home environment, or other non-racial factors.  I have known plenty of well-behaved, respectful students who understand the "codes" of the classroom perfectly, not because they are conforming to whiteness, but because their parents taught them manners, courtesy, and self-discipline.  Parents of any race can and do raise kids this way.

One stylistic point: Connelly has a potty mouth.  The book is full of casual swearing that takes away from her arguments, with a style and tone that makes social media interactions look scholarly.  She even draws attention to it at one point with that stupid old trick, "If you're more offended by my swearing than by the larger point I'm making, then, well, you're beyond help."  Yes, I agree, clergy accepting slave children as a tithe was horrible, much worse than using the F-word, but that doesn't mean I think it's constructive or acceptable to use the F-word to make a point about this or any other moral argument.

Writing Good White Racist? was probably a good exercise for Connelly.  I'm sure she feels better about herself for writing it.  But I think she missed the mark and will only annoy her intended audience.  Racism is bad.  So is this book.  I didn't need to read this book to know that racism is bad.  Neither do you.


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