Good White People: The Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism

214 Pages·2014·1.13 MB·english

by  Sullivan

GOOD WHITE PEOPLE
SUNY series, Philosophy and Race
—————
Robert Bernasconi and T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, editors
GOOD WHITE PEOPLE
The Problem with Middle-Class
White Anti-Racism
SHANNON SULLIVAN
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sullivan, Shannon, 1967–
Good white people : the problem with middle-class white anti-racism /
Shannon Sullivan.
pages cm. — (SUNY series, Philosophy and race)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5169-5 (hardcover : alkaline paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5168-8 (paperback : alkaline paper)
1. Whites—United States—Attitudes. 2. Middle class—United States.
3. Anti-racism—United States. 4. United States—Race relations. 5. United
States—Social conditions—1980– I. Title.
E184.A1S954 2014
305.800973—dc23 2013025552
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Samantha, Sophia, and Phillip

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Good White Liberals 1
1. Dumping on White Trash: Etiquette, Abjection, and
Radical Inclusion 23
2. Demonizing White Ancestors: Unconscious Histories and
Racial Responsibilities 59
3. The Dis-ease of Color Blindness: Racial Absences and
Invisibilities in the Reproduction of Whiteness 85
4. The Dangers of White Guilt, Shame, and Betrayal:
Toward White Self-Love 117
Conclusion: Struggles over Love 151
Notes 163
Bibliography 193
Index 205

Acknowledgments
I wish to thank a number of people who helped me with this book:
First and foremost, Phillip McReynolds. I couldn’t begin to describe
the ups and downs of writing, rewriting, and undergoing the review
process of this book, and Phillip went through it all with me. He is my
biggest supporter and best critic, and his positive feedback on an early
draft of the introduction was especially important. He read all the ver-
sions of the book from beginning to end, providing crucial suggestions
and comments. I know he is just as happy as I am to see it published.
I also am grateful to Lucius Outlaw, who provided some much
needed moral support during the review process. He understood early
on, better than I did, the spiritual side of the book, and that under-
standing was crucial to the final round of rewriting. I appreciate Melissa
Wright’s enthusiastic response to early versions of several chapters of
the manuscript, which was important for keeping the project going.
I happily thank Robert Bernasconi and T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting
(series editors) and Andrew Kenyon (SUNY Press) for their interest in
and support of this book. Andrew provided particularly helpful editorial
guidance during the review process. I benefited from thoughtful feedback
from members of the philosophy and the women’s studies departments
at Penn State University to whom I presented portions of chapter 4 as
part of their colloquia series. I especially appreciate Vincent Colapietro’s
question about the place of religion in the overall project. I value the
critical questions from audiences at the 2011 philoSOPHIA and espe-
cially the 2010 SPEP meetings at which I presented portions of chapter
4 and the conclusion. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for SUNY
Press for their lively feedback. I hope that the improvements I made
to the book as a result of their collective comments inspire additional
vigorous debate in the field.
ix