Emotionally driven, language is too casual, the tone is too lax. Honestly expected a higher quality from this publisher.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy.
I got occasionally annoyed at the tone of this--I think the author was trying awfully hard to be hip and cool, and occasionally she really leaned on the jargon. But this was a pretty good summation of how not to be a racist jerk for white people.

“I don’t see color”, “I have many black friends”, “I am white, but not privileged”, “All lives matter”, “I am color blind”….Most of us have heard our friends and family say these words or we have said similar words at one point or another in our lives. Connelly dismantles every one of these beliefs while writing passionately without mincing any words. She has done the hard work of learning, listening and talking about race. She is gutsy and I commend her. You will read about terms such as microaggression, gaslighting and cultural appropriation, you will squirm and be uncomfortable. It is meant to make us uncomfortable, reflect and question ourselves. It is a must-read for every white person.

Good White Racist really hits on many points that are hard to explain well when trying to help people understand white privilege. It maps out an informed way of how white privilege isn’t something in need of defending, rather than it is in acknowledging, understanding, and changing so the world can have a better level of equality and justice. Many white people (especially older ones) feel like they are being attacked for being white, so they immediately go on the defensive. They feel like 1) it’s something they can’t change, 2) it’s something they aren’t ashamed of, and 3) if they accepted that white privilege is ‘real,’ they are rejecting the hard work they have put into anything they have accomplished in life. Good White Racist really states applicable facts from a white person that other white people can easily relate to. Kerry Connelly addresses some of the feelings that white people face when confronted with white privilege and gives a better understanding that no one is accusing white people of only getting ahead in life based on their skin color, yet their skin color didn’t hurt their probabilities of getting ahead.

At first I did feel the book was directed more for older generations who don’t really understand the basics of the issue, until I learned some new things that I hadn’t considered (which was my deciding factor in giving this book the extra star.) There are parts that are hyperbole, and I understand the need, but I think those parts really lost me. Because I am white, I know most of my comments will be written off as that, however, I don’t feel white people should walk around holding their heads in shame or guilt simply due to the fact they are white, because that feels just as wrong. I don’t agree that any POC’s can be rude to any WP simply because they are angry; the book really missed the mark on that. Connelly did address this lightly, but again she missed the mark on expressing it well to white people. At times it seems the book was written solely for WP, to truly help (and those parts are phenomenal,) however, at other times it seems it was written for POC to maybe show how much the author understands, and that’s not really the demographic the book was angled to be targeting, so that felt a bit shady. It also is targeted as a Christian book (the author does address this next comment) but it Curses.In.Print. which many will agree doesn’t make you not a Christian, but it does make you offensive on purpose and I think many of the targeted Christian audience may lay it down because of that, which to me seems counterproductive.

There are so many levels of feelings, misunderstanding, anger, fear, frustration, and overall miscommunication based on individual perception and opinion with the overall problem, that I think the book could’ve been much more groundbreaking had it omitted some of the hyperbole and opinions. I had hoped this would be a book (much like White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo) that I could buy for some of my family members that are older in hopes they could see some of the truths they are missing (because they automatically go on the defensive,) unfortunately, I don’t think in the end it fits that need and I am sad about it. Still, I did learn some new things which were pretty shocking to me about myself, (since I really feel connected/informed/passionate about the problem of human inequality) and for that this book gets a big 4-star!

Thanks to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox Press for the ARC in return for my honest review

Connelly takes a dive into the topic of racism by looking at it through the lens of white privilege. She doesn't try to make the reader comfortable, quite the opposite. The reader is supposed to feel uncomfortable by confronting attitudes that they may not realize they have and being aware and willing to face those biases and change them. Although I'm not the demographic that Connelly is writing this book for, I do think that it is an important read for anyone. I think it is just as important to understand where other people's views of race come from as well as your own.