Hello all,

Just a note to announce the release of the new, revised, updated and vastly improved 2nd edition of my book, White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son (Soft Skull Press).

The link for the book is at the bottom of this email.

Many of you made suggestions about things that could have been better in the first edition, and many of those suggestions were taken to heart and are reflected in the new version. In the three years since the initial release of WLM, I have grown as a writer, matured as an aspiring antiracist white ally, and had my understanding of the issues of white supremacy and privilege deepened, in large measure because of the feedback I receive (both positive and critical) from so many people I meet, and so many whose work in this arena I admire. So thank you for your feedback over the years, and please keep it coming (a lthough this is it for WLM--I'm not re-doing it again, no matter what!)

Anyway, among the new features in the 2nd edition:

1. An entirely new chapter on White Denial, which includes a discussion of white denial historically, and today; examines the "Oprah Effect" (the tendency of whites to point to successful people of color as proof that racism and white privilege are no longer real problems), and takes on the myth of institutional "reverse racism" with stories and examples ranging from the U.S. to Bermuda. The chapter also looks at white liberal denial/deflection, so as not to make the problem appear to be an issue only for conservatives.

2. An epilogue on Hurricane Katrina, race, and New Orleans (in the form of an open letter to white America)

3. New material in the first chapter ("Born to Belonging") concerning my family, and the larger privilege of genealogical research which so often adheres to whites (and which I came to realize viscerally this summer when doing some of that research for the book).

4. New framing analysis at the beginning of each chapter, which seeks to place the theme of that chapter in a larger social context, beyond the mere personal stories that seek to illustrate the theme. In other words, rather than hoping that the personal stories will suffice, I've added a few pages of set-up for each theme (i.e., privilege, resistance, denial, etc), so that readers will have the framework to make sense of the stories. This is especially helpful, I've learned, for students assigned the book in class, who are often new to discussions of white privilege and race.

5. New stories/vignettes within each of the pre-existing chapters, and the removal of some of the old stories which frankly didn't really work so well to make the points intended.

6. MAJOR revisions to the Resistance chapter. This was, by my own estimation and the estimation of readers, the weakest of the original chapters . It has been totally re-worked for the most part, with a larger discussion of the need for whites to connect to the alternative tradition of white resistance and allyship, reflections on methods of action-taking and resistance in institutional settings, a discussion of raising antiracist children, and a large sub-section on accountability, and the importance of being accountable, especially to people of color, when doing antiracism work as a white person.

7. Significant alterations and improvements to the Loss chapter, with a more explicit linking made between privilege and various social maladies, including militarism and the war in Iraq, for example. Also, a framing set-up at the beginning of the chapter, which looks at the way whiteness and white privilege have been used historically to con working class persons of Euro descent into casting their lot with the elites, at the expense of class solidarity.

Oh, and there is also a new, color cover (much more ae sthetically pleasing than the old gray and white one). By the way, the white guy whose face is on the cover (partially obscured by the title box of the book), is NOT me. I had bad hair in the 80s, to be sure...but not quite THAT bad. Ok, actually, it was probably worse, but anyway, it's not me...

thanks

tim wise timwise.org

The link for White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son

http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781933368993?&PID=3231

P.S., Please note that the link above takes you to Powell's, rather than Amazon. In addition to preferring to support Powell's, there is the related problem that Amazon is displaying the same cover for both editions, thereby making it confusing for consumers to know which version they're getting.

So if you liked the book the first time, please buy the new version, as I think you'll like it even more. If you found it mediocre the first time, try it again and I think you'll find it to b e better, and if you hated it, well, maybe give it another shot, and at the least you'll perhaps find it mediocre this time around!

Thanks

tim