Overcoming Our Racism - by Derald Wing Sue (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This extraordinary book by Derald Wing Sue, a highly-regarded academic and author, helps readers understand and combat racism in themselves. It defines racism not only as extreme acts of hatred, but as "any attitude, action or institutional structure or social policy that subordinates a person or group because of their color." This landmark work offers an antidote to this pervasive social problem.

• Shows how each of us has a role in the oppression of others, and what we can do about it
• Offers a way to overcome racism on a very intimate level
• Outlines specific guidelines and suggested activities

From the Back Cover

"'We shall overcome, ' but how? Derald Wing Sue points us to a path. He invites readers to engage him in dialogues to confront the master narrative of American history-- the story that this country was settled by European immigrants and that Americans are white.Taking us beyond the Black and White binary, he illuminates the experiences of Americans of the twenty-first century's society of expanding ethnic diversity."
--Ronald Takaki, author, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America

"This book is intended to provoke and challenge, and it succeeds admirably. Sometimes it even made me angry, but it always forced me to think about myself and assess the way I behave."
--Arthur Levine, Ph.D., president, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Dr. Sue is mapping a warrior's path with a compassionate heart.This book will take the discussion of racism in our society to a new level in which we can finally begin to address it in a manner that will bring deep changes and not just more rhetoric."
--Eduardo Duran, Ph.D., Apache/Tewa, author, Buddha in Redface

"Most of us have internalized attitudes that affect our actions in negative and unfair ways toward people of color. Sue's book allows us to understand those attitudes as well as the white privilege most White Americans do not realize they possess! All thinking people who wish to increase integrity in their interactions with others should read this book!"
--Melba J. T. Vasquez, Ph.D., ABPP, past president, American Psychological Association's Society for the Psychology of Women

"This singular book provides racially clueless and sometimes well-meaning people with the tools and context to liberate themselves-- and the rest of us-- from their destructive ways. Though the book centers on racism and whiteness, it also gives an insightful approach to other biased behavior, whether based on gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or other common markers of prejudice. Most important, this book offers all of us the hope that constructive change is not only possible but within our capacity to achieve."
--Helen Zia, author, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of An American People

About the Author

Derald Wing Sue is professor of psychology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He was president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, the cofounder and first president of the Asian American Psychological Association, and currently president of the Society of Counseling Psychology. He is the author of the best-selling book Counseling the Culturally Diverse, fourth edition 2002 from Wiley.