Me and White Supremacy Book Summary - Me and White Supremacy Book explained in key points

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Me and White Supremacy summary

Name: Me and White Supremacy
Rating: 4.3 (153 reviews)
Author: Layla Saad

Layla Saad

How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World

4.3 (153 ratings)

23 mins

Topics

Black Lives Matter Race

Table of Contents

Me and White Supremacy
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Deepen your understanding of white supremacy, and learn how you can be an ally to people of color.

Most likely, you don’t consider yourself a white supremacist. Great. But you still live in a world that’s defined by white supremacy.

The truth is, it’s present at such deep, structural levels all around us that, regardless of your political views, you’re complicit in a white supremacist system.

These blinks will help you understand what that really means, by spelling out some of the privileges that white people enjoy – whether they realize it or not – and explaining the many problematic ways in which white people often try to engage with Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. You’ll also discover some constructive things you can do to become an ally in the fight against racism.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why you need to fight against racism, even if you consider yourself “one of the good ones”;
why claiming you’re “color blind” to race is just as bad as hiring token people of color; and
how you can work to become an ally.

White and white-passing people enjoy huge privileges, even if they don’t realize it.

“White supremacy” isn’t just about right-wing extremism. According to the author, Layla Saad, it’s a far broader ideology that applies to all white people – regardless of their political views. It’s more than just a set of opinions: white supremacy is the foundation on which white-centered culture is based.

Let’s put it more directly. If you’re a white person or someone who can “pass” as white, then white supremacy means that you benefit from white privilege. Without needing to do anything at all, you have received countless privileges that Black people, indigenous people, and people of color (BIPOC) do not receive.

You’ll go on receiving these privileges your entire life. You’re stuck with them – just like BIPOC are stuck with the experience of racism.

What sort of privileges are we talking about? A lot of them you probably take for granted. The scholar and activist Peggy McIntosh called white privilege “an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions,” and made a list of 50 examples.

Let’s look at some of them: You’re experiencing white privilege if, when you learn about history, it tends to be the history of your own race. Or, when you go shopping, you find products that fit with your own cultural identity. You’re experiencing white privilege if you don’t have to worry that your race will damage your chances of getting legal or medical assistance. Or if you can bring up your kids without having to warn them about racism.

That is to say, white supremacy isn’t just in the minds of Neo-Nazis. It’s so widespread, in fact, that white superiority is a belief that even seems to affect children. In a famous 1940s experiment by psychologists Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark, African-American children were asked to choose between Black and white dolls, and most expressed a clear preference for the white ones. CNN commissioned an updated version of the challenge in 2010 – this time with white children, too – and discovered that the same preference still existed, most of all among the white children.

It’s therefore worth thinking not just about your “invisible knapsack” of privileges, but also about the ways in which, at some level, you believe yourself to be better than BIPOC.

You might feel indignant or insulted to be asked to do that. That’s a normal response – but it’s also one you’re going to have to work through.

If you think that you personally don’t need to work to combat racism, you're wrong.

“I have Black friends.” “Actually, I’ve dated people of color.” “Not all white people are racists!”

These are some of the rather defensive things white people often say when challenged about white supremacy. Maybe you’ve said some of them yourself. Most of these responses circle back to the idea that you don’t need to put the work in to combat racism, because you’re one of the good ones.

White attitudes toward BIPOC are often the result of harmful stereotypes.

Tennis player Serena Williams – an all-time great – was disciplined in the final of the 2018 US Open for her behavior. Among her transgressions was calling the umpire a “thief.” Hardly a compliment, but did she deserve to be formally reprimanded? Several stars – including the notoriously foul-mouthed former player John McEnroe – later confirmed that they had said much worse and got away without any penalties.

This is an example of tone policing. White people have a habit of criticizing the tone in which BIPOC voice their views – most typically, they are chastised for sounding too angry. The opposite can happen, too: softly spoken BIPOC may be complimented, by surprised white people, for the gentleness of their voice. Either way, the expectation is that they should speak the way white people want them to.

Black people face many particularly damning stereotypes.

Nonwhite people experience different forms of racism, depending on who they are. To illustrate this, the author puts a particular focus on the racism experienced by Black people of African descent, which she terms anti-Blackness. It affects women, men, and children in different ways – and, of course, those who are transgender or nonbinary. But let’s begin with a famously marginalized group: Black women.

Viola Davis may be a successful actor, but she’s not exempt from experiencing racism, as she pointed out in a speech at a 2018 Hollywood Reporter event. She spoke about the narrow range of roles that were available to her as a Black woman: “strong Black women,” for instance, or characters that help the white person “feel better.”

When white people only engage with anti-racism superficially, they get it badly wrong.

Some white people like to talk about color blindness. This is the idea that you simply don’t see someone’s race. It’s generally meant well – intended to prove you’re not racist – but, in fact, this attitude can cause great harm.

Whether or not you’re “color blind,” white supremacy is still there, with consequences that affect all of us. Simply put, color blindness sounds admirable, but just doesn’t reflect reality. So it ends up supporting the white supremacist system after all.

True allyship requires in-depth engagement – and a willingness to acknowledge mistakes.

So far in these blinks, there have been a lot of negative concepts – things you need to avoid doing, rather than things you should be aiming for. That changes in this blink, which is about allyship.

Allyship is working in solidarity with BIPOC, not in one-off instances, but steadily and consistently. It involves understanding your own privilege, and constantly reevaluating your own relationship with those who have less privilege. You don’t get to declare, “I’m an ally!” – that’s not for you to judge. But you do have to try to practice allyship as best you can.

Anti-racism is the work of a lifetime, but it’s your duty to be a force for good.

Simply knowing all of this isn’t enough. You need to put your knowledge into action.

You might remember, from the very first blink, that as a white or white-passing person you’re effectively stuck with your privileges for life. That’s true – but it’s possible to do something the author calls losing privilege. That means letting go of the comforts that you enjoy as a white person living under white supremacy – consciously, positively working to let go of your unearned privilege. Here are some ways to do it.

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What is Me and White Supremacy about?

Me and White Supremacy (2020) is a guidebook to the white supremacist world we live in. It’s intended to help white people improve their understanding of racism and work to become allies to people of color.

Who should read Me and White Supremacy?

White people who want to understand anti-racism
People who’ve benefited from white supremacy
People interested in contemporary society and sociology

About the Author

Layla Saad is a writer, speaker and podcast host, especially well known for her work on race and social change. Her Instagram challenge #MeAndWhiteSupremacy became a viral hit in 2018 and was developed into a book. She grew up in the UK and now lives in Doha, Qatar.

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