Waking Up White

Debby Irving’s Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race (2014) is a commentary on white privilege, white superiority, racism, and racial tensions from a unique and fresh perspective. Irving’s perspective includes stereotypes, biases, tolerance, and manners. Since the 1980s, Irving has worked to foster inclusiveness, diversity, and community among different races. She developed a love for cross-cultural collaboration during her time as general manager for Boston’s Dance Umbrella and First Night. She has worked in both the public and private school systems as a teacher, board member, and parent volunteer. Her work includes connection through authentic dialogue and shared interests. She graduated from the Winsor School in Boston and received a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from Simmons College. She grew up in Winchester, Massachusetts in mostly white, upper-middle-class surroundings. Irving now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters. Though she has encountered racial tensions both on the job and at her children’s schools, she had never given much thought to the topic of race. In her forties, after enrolling in a graduate school course in race and culture identity, she began to understand the many benefits afforded upon her over the years simply for being white.

Waking Up White can be considered part memoir as Irving capitalizes on her own personal experiences to make her point. These experiences include a white woman coming to terms with her own perceptions and complex nuances that contributed to her point of view on racism in the United States. The book is designed as a tool for community development and enhancement. She believes in the power of strong communities to foster equality among all races. She uses the technique of partnering with another person, usually a person of color to combat the issues of racism.

The book explores topics such as white superiority, the melting pot, systemic racism, and the impact of a one-sided narrative. Questions are included at the end of each chapter to help the reader gain clarity on their views on race and racism. There are prompts for white readers to explore the themes in greater depth and relate them to their own experiences. She suggests using a journal to write thoughts down. Irving states the importance of examining our own values, principals, beliefs, and stereotypes about race. She explains how a close examination of our personal beliefs and feelings, no matter how uncomfortable, is the foundational place to start. She details just how effortless it is to be ignorant of racial forces at play. Her book is about making critical connections to society’s abundant examples of racial inequality. The ability to learn tolerance for our own feelings of discomfort around race can lead to healing if allowed to be felt and acknowledged. These feeling include anger, fear, humiliation, and shame.



Irving shows that racism goes far deeper than simply disliking people of color. She came to recognize that her white hometown couldn’t even exist unless blacks were obstructed. Irving unpacks her own experiences and what she has learned from her previous beliefs which include: race is solely about biological differences, culture and ethnicity are only about people of other races and countries, and racism is about bigotry and those intentionally cruel towards people of color. Irving has spoken to hundreds of white people across the country who share these beliefs and who suffer from racial confusion and anxiety.

Finally, Waking Up White is a call to action and an opportunity to awaken to our intuitive voice, disavowing ourselves of the notion of white superiority. Unless we understand racism and its root cause, we will continue to perpetuate the false notion of a superior race.