BookRace & Decolonization
Waking Up White
Debby Irving
About this book
Debby Irving reflects on fifty years of unknowingly perpetuating racism through her own whiteness — tracing how she was shaped by segregation, privilege, and a culture that rendered racial injustice invisible. A memoir for white readers beginning to see.
Key themes
- The invisible architecture of whiteness and racial privilege
- How segregated environments shaped white identity without white awareness
- Moving from defensiveness to genuine curiosity about race
- The discomfort of awakening to privilege — and why it's worth it
- Building a white identity grounded in accountability, not guilt
About the author
Debby Irving is a racial justice educator and author who works with organizations to examine the systems and assumptions that perpetuate racial inequality.
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