Dear White Women:

Central Park Karen, Rachel Hollis, The Latest White Lady Caught on Camera Berating a Black or brown person. You love to point to these women and talk about how horribly, terribly racist they are. But the truth is that all white women are racist. Yes, even you. Sorry, did that hurt your feelings? Was that not nice?

Let’s take a step back.

It’s no secret that you are conditioned to be “nice,” but did you know that your desire to be perfect and to avoid conflict at all costs are characteristics of white supremacy culture?

As the founders of Race2Dinner, an organization that facilitates conversations between white women about white supremacy and racism—specifically your complicity in upholding white supremacy and your racism—we explore your obsession with niceness and perfection, even as it relates to your anti-racism work.

In this book, we ask: How has being “nice” helped Black women, Indigenous women, and other women of color? How has being “nice” helped you in your quest to end sexism? Has being “nice” earned you economic parity with white men? Beginning with freeing white women from this oppressive need to be nice, we deconstruct and analyze nine aspects of traditional white woman behavior—from tone-policing to weaponizing tears—that uphold white supremacy society and hurt all of us who are trying to live a freer, more equitable life.

White Women is a call to action to those of you who are looking to take the next steps in dismantling white supremacy—your white supremacy. If you are in fact doing real anti-racism work, you will find few reasons to be nice.

Leave your feelings at the door.

Regina + Saira

About the Authors

What People Are Saying About White Women

“…Jackson and Rao not only call out the racism of White women on the behalf of people of color; they also call attention to the fact that White supremacy is detrimental to White people as well. At every step, the authors call for substantive action and for White women to move beyond simply sharing inspirational memes, giving thoughts and prayers, and believing that positivity and “colorblindness” will solve racism…” – Kirkus Starred Review

“…As the authors suspect—because they’ve experienced it countless times—many readers will balk at their candor. But what they’re offering is an opportunity for white women to free themselves and their communities from the toxic ideals of white supremacy and white culture, a message that's ultimately optimistic and even cathartic.” – Jenna Jay, Booklist

“Deconstructing white women and white supremacy has never been more necessary than it is right now, and I am always looking for ways to learn, grow, shut the F up, and listen. This book gives you the tools to do just that.” –Chelsea Handler

“This book dares to tell necessary truths. The kind of truths that can save lives, and if heard with an open mind and heart — may even help save the soul of this lost nation.” –Frederick Joseph, author of New York Times bestsellers Patriarchy Blues and The Black Friend

“WHITE WOMEN is not an easy read but is essential if you are dedicated to liberation for all and confronting white supremacy in all the parts of our lives where it hides so easily. This book is not an attack but an extraordinary gift, and I invite you to set your ego aside and approach it with humility and an open heart.” –Anna Paquin, actress and producer

“I am excited for what this book means for us all. In a world where critical race theory is banned in classrooms across the USA, because the white people were not properly taught to think critically about their complicity in systemic oppression, this book is timely. We tend to tiptoe around whiteness, and this book rips the bandage off. This is the book many BIWOC have been needing to give to the white women in our lives; from our white co-workers to our white mother-in-laws, this book is no-holds-barred. This is the answer to many of our prayers.” –Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez Author of For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color