Waking Up White Book Study
Week One:
Introduction, Chapter Summaries, and Discussion Questions
January 4, 2021 6:30-8 PM
"I originally read the book “Waking Up White” in early 2017. Since then I have read several more books on racial justice and I participated in Grace’s “Conversations on Race” so I thought I was “beyond” this book. Why would I need to read “Waking Up White” again? I had figured it all out. Because “Waking Up White” is going to be our congregational book study in January, I recently re-read the book. Much to my chagrin, I found myself and my life woven into many of the stories shared in this book."
-Nancy Jenkins, Grace Member
Resources
READING SCHEDULE BY WEEK
Week 1 January 4 - Awareness – 32 pages total
  • Section 1: Childhood in White – Chapters 1 and 3 (8 pages)
  • Section 2: Midlife Wakeup Calls – Chapters 6, 7, 10 and 11 (24 pages)
Week 2 January 11 - Confession – 32 pages total
  • Section 3: Why I Didn’t Wake Up Sooner – Chapters 12, 13, 14 (18 pages)
  • Section 4: Rethinking Key Concepts – Chapters 17, 18 and 20 ( 14 pages)
Week 3 January 18 - Reformation – 31 pages total
  • Section 5: Twenty Five Years of Tossing and Turning – Chapters 23, 24 and 28 (16 pages)
  • Section 6: Leaving My Comfort Zone – Chapters 29, 30 and 32 (15 pages)
Week 4 January 25 - Transformation – 31 pages total
  • Section 7: Inner Work – Chapters 34, 38 and 40 (13 pages)
  • Section 8: Outer Work – Chapters 41, 42, 45 (13 pages)
  • Section 9: Reclaiming My Humanity – Chapter 46 (5 pages)
Clicking below will lead you to either an introduction of Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race OR Our Week One Summary and questions for our discussion together. It is our expectation that before gathering you will at least have read the summaries of each of the chapters in preparation for our discussion together.
Clicking below will take you to the Waking up White events page on the Grace Website. You can read the summaries there as well as register for the study and find the zoom link. Registering will ensure you receive the summary emails each week prior to our discussions. We ask that if you are already registered to share this link with others who may be interested in joining our conversations.