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Biography of Author
Jeff Hitchcock
happened to be born white in America, a fact he failed to dwell upon for
much of his first forty years. After stints in academia, selling life
insurance, loading trucks, working in the nonprofit world, and spending
seven years on Wall Street as a corporate manager of computer systems, he
awoke one day to find himself interracially married (since 1982) to a
black feminist sociologist, the father of two children of color, and
working for a minority-owned diversity consulting firm. These happenstance
circumstances raised some soul searching questions before him, and he
began to ask where he fit in the race and gender dynamics being bantered
about in his life. Some research
proved to him that other white men and women had asked this question, but
few people, even diversity consultants and sociologists, seemed to know
about it.
Still, he never
thought himself much of an expert on racial concerns until his mentor and
employer, an Afro-Puerto Rican-Cuban woman named Cessie Alfonso, told him he was “living it.” The “it”
was a multiracial lifestyle.
He always
imagined he might retire and start an institute to help improve race
relations, but then decided, “Why wait?” With his life partner and wife,
Charley Flint, he co-founded The Center for the Study of White American
Culture in 1995. Currently he is the Executive Director. He is also active
in the multiracial community as former president of GIFT (Getting Interracial
Families Together) of Montclair. Somewhere along the way he fortunately acquired a
Masters degree in social psychology (Rutgers) and a second Masters degree,
in business administration (NYU). Having done so, he frequently applies the knowledge gained from his
studies to his work.
Author's Statement
Several years ago I was struck by the need for a manual that
well-meaning white people could use to explore their relationship as
racial (and racialized) beings in a multiracial society. Many other
articles and books were available. Some advised white people how to become
antiracist. An uncounted number discussed race in comparative,
"black/white," terms in which whiteness was implicitly held to be the
norm. Several works emerging from the incipient white studies movement
went further, critiquing whiteness itself as something particular and
specific, not the invisible norm it claimed to be. Still other works
described the development of white racial identity. All this was wonderful
and worthy.
But nowhere could I find the sort of book I felt would
resonate with me. Not simply the me of now, the year 2002. Also like the
me of 20 years ago, a good hearted, but naïve liberal white (male) who
believed strongly in social justice but lacked the awareness of his own
privilege and how his own experience was deeply shaped by being white.
That young man had to learn his lessons the hard way, bit by bit, through
confrontation, painful introspection, and absorption of many of the
materials mentioned above. It was a lonely journey, and truth be told,
that's how it is for us white folks. Our cultural supports fail us here.
Living a life of subconscious privilege is relatively easy. Learning to
see that privilege and how to occasionally step outside of it is not. So I
wrote the book.
The book is a guide to self-discovery and
awareness for white people who live and work in multiracial settings. One
thing I find mildly disturbing is white people who try to write about
whiteness as if they stand entirely outside it. Though some may claim to
be striving for objectivity, I suspect an element of self-hatred informs
their stance as well. That's my personal, insider's view on the matter,
and I incorporate that insider's view in the book. Some of the material is
autobiographical, offering signposts from my own journey. My sympathies go
to the white person who is learning to deal personally with his or her own
whiteness. Some of us more experienced white people who have made that
journey need to offer our support to those still struggling on the
way.
Many of us do offer that support, and I've tried to bring that
into view as well. Among white people who have become aware of their
whiteness and used that awareness to work toward a multiracial society,
there is considerable concern for helping other white people through their
individual journeys. I've made an effort to draw upon material and to
mention people who were pioneers in white awareness. This is a book whose
intent is not to reinvent the wheel, but rather to turn from the process
of reinvention and look toward a time when wheels become
commonplace.
People of color may wonder where they fit within this
book, either topically in the content or within the mind of the author as
an audience. It's impossible to write a book about race and whiteness
without incorporating some content about other racial groups. Because much
of my personal experience with people other than white has been with black
people, there is a decided "black/white" flavor to portions of the book.
But I've incorporated material concerning other racial groups as well.
Still, it is a book about white people, intentionally so, and that is
where the focus lies.
The reader of color, I imagine, may find a
good portion of the material familiar in some general way. Things that
disrupt and refocus white consciousness sometimes pass as common sense
knowledge in various cultures of color. At the very least, the book tells
its story from the standpoint of a self-aware white person struggling with
his own whiteness. There are, I believe, some insights into whiteness that
can not be entirely discerned from the other side of the color line. And
white people have done a poor job articulating our experience. I've tried
not to further that trend.
For all readers of whatever color the
book contains ample documentation of source material, including extensive
notes and a detailed index. One overriding aim of this project was to
assemble as much material in as much detail from as broad a spectrum as
possible, and convey it in straight-forward, engaging, and simple terms.
The first three chapters offer white people a gentle view of how they
might become engaged in working and living in a multiracial world. The
fourth chapter looks at colorblindness as the dominant racial philosophy
in white culture. Following this are chapters on history, culture,
psychology, white studies, and white awareness as expressed outside the
academy. The book ends with a discussion of the Center's model for
decentering whiteness and fostering multiracial community
building.
This is a book whose primary aim is to demonstrate to the
average educated audience of white people that whiteness, white culture,
white identity and white experience comprise a reality they can no longer
ignore. Read it for yourself. Recommend it to your colleagues. Adopt it as
a supplemental text for a college course, diversity seminar, or in-service
training. Buy it for a white friend who is struggling with his or her own
whiteness and needs a little help on the way.
(CONTACT THE AUTHOR)
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