Carolyn L. Baker grew up in Southern California during segregation and came of age in the counter-cultural climate of the 1960s. Many years later, when Baker was in her mid-sixties, she first learned of the murder of Emmett Till, sparking an investigation of her own position as a white woman in the midst of a world of racial trauma. An Unintentional Accomplice, A Personal Perspective on White Responsibility follows Baker’s awakening to the realities of her own white privilege, facing the painful reality that, no matter how “unintentional,” she has played a role within a system that continues to inflict racial harm. She comes to realize that, by not actively opposing discrimination, as a white person, she acts as an “accomplice.”
I had the privilege of working closely with Baker this past year on this book. It was less about editing and more about spending time having in depth conversations about race that would guide her book in the right direction. Although I was pitching the book to a well-known anti-racist activist to write the introduction of the book, Baker asked me, emphatically, to write it instead and I eventually said yes. I retrospect, I am glad I said yes because working on this book was a joy and a pleasure
Baker’s book is scheduled to publish in June 2020. However, the uncertainty of the coronavirus no longer guarantees the book’s publication date. So we put our heads together and decided to do something unusual, which is publish the ebook ahead of the print book. Our distributor, University of Chicago Press is offering a 30% discount on all ebooks. Just visit their website, use the promo code BOOK30, and you will receive automatic delivery. Future plans also include a virtual book party, and other virtual events, which we will announce and post as they come up.
An Unintentional Accomplice offers a non-judgmental personal narrative that invites readers to explore the complexities of race in America and how to navigate the guilt that can arise in the face of these realities. The book defines institutionalized discrimination, illustrates the distance between the American dream and American reality, calls for a radically inclusive feminism, and suggests relevant ways to change direction and take action to build a more humane nation.
It is not a book written by a white woman for white people; it is a book to be read by all people of different ethnic backgrounds. I believe there is more room for racial and ethnic comity than we sometimes realize because most political issues cut across group lines–but achieving that comity will require the highly unlikely combination of people’s willingness to learn about each other and coming together. An Unintentional Accomplice is worthy of your time. You will not be disappointed.
BUY 2LP DIRECT @ University of Chicago Press. EARNS MORE FOR ALL.
Happy reading!
