I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness

I am a white woman and I needed this book. Let me first start by saying everything the negative reviews say is true. This book makes white people uncomfortable because it makes us confront our own biases and ignorance. The difference between the negative reviews and the positive reviews is how you choose to read that information and what you choose to do with it. It was very unnerving that every time I felt a certain emotion bubble up, Austin Channing Brown told me a few sentences later that I was feeling it and why it\’s not helpful. A few times throughout the book, I had to swallow my pride, wipe my petulant scowl off my face, and keep reading so I could grow. I highlighted all over this book and have already encouraged friends to read it, so we can have study sessions. It\’s one of those books that you need to keep around, and keep going back to, talking about it with friends, and getting better in the process. If you read this book with an open mind, you can\’t help but learn something valuable.

First off, this book was a quick read; the chapters were short and flowed smoothly. As far as the content goes without going chapter by chapter, it can really all be summed up by saying this: \”I\’ve had many negative experiences with white people (racism, or some sort of prejudice) therefore most/all white are racist or prejudice\”. She talks about all the assumptions and bad/and or annoying things white people have done to her, yet then goes on to make assumptions about all white people, for example, she explains the origin of her name, a name that is not a typical female name and most white people think she is a white male. Obviously most people will think she\’s a male with a name like Austin, but she seems to think only white people will make this assumption, which isn\’t a crazy assumption. Austin also describes other experiences of not being able to relate to teachers when they give examples in class (such as referencing television shows, music, or hobbies), and while there is nothing wrong with being upset about that, she makes it seem as if it was personal, when in fact a white teacher will probably use an example from their personal lives or one that most of the children would understand, and since most of her classmates were white it makes sense. One absurd part in the book talked about how Austin received an apology from a white woman who was a conference planner who felt bad for \”making purposeful decisions that uplifted white women above women of color as presenters\”, while it was never stated what that exactly meant, Austin offers some suggestions about how she could avoid this in the future. One of these suggestions was to make \”people of color the highest-paid presenters—a nod to their value, expertise, and the emotional labor of discussing race and justice\”. I almost fell out of my chair from laughing so hard. Seriously? Pay them more based on their race and supposedly \”emotional labor\”?? Right. What a joke. The entire book is filled with assumptions and the victim hood mentality, and often times what seems like a strong dislike for all white people (although some of that is understandable) While I understand and have no problem with Austin writing about her experiences and how that made her feel, I do have a problem with assumptions and generalizations made from those experiences, no matter the race. There are far too many logical fallacies, assumptions, and just absurd statements to go over in a review, but this book is full of them.

As a white man, I have little access to the experiences of people who have been systematically barred from places of power and privilege in our culture. Thank God for authors like Austin, who – with grace, courage, clarity and wit – invite me to see the world through their eyes. I\’M STILL HERE is a powerful look at our world from the perspective of a person excluded by many of the structures and systems that benefit a person like me. This book is challenging, prophetic and beautiful. It\’s a gift to our word that couldn\’t have come at a better time.

I started off with an open mind about this book and for about the first half of it – I realized there are things that White People do without realizing it and it was an eye opener. But as the book went on, all I sensed was anger and hostility towards white People. I am so SICK of hearing the term white privilege. We have no choice into the families or race that we are born. She seems to be able to read minds and know how and what \”white people\” think and that\’s pretty judgmental, especially for being the Christian she claims she is. She\’s got a huge chip on her shoulder and is just as racist towards whites that she claims whites are towards blacks. This book is not a uniter but a divider. I only read about 3/4 and then I was finished because she had absolutely NOTHING good to say about white people. NOTHING.

The impacts of white cultural norms on people of color are invisible to white people. That means in addition to overt racism and white supremacy, theres also millions of well-meaning white Americans who unknowingly make life more difficult for people of color. This book helps change that. It offers white readers an understanding of what is so often invisible to us, and how our actions impact other people every day. Of course, this book is even more powerful as a work of solidarity for women if color. It names and gives voice to their experices. And, it does so with phenomenal writing. Dont miss this book.

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