Black and White
An Intimate, Multicultural Perspective on "White Advantage" and the Paths to Change
CBC Interview - https://www.cbc.ca/books/how-stephen-dorsey-s-biracial-upbringing-in-canada-led-to-his-debut-book-about-addressing-systemic-racism-1.6360042
La description
The anticipated debut by a biracial community leader and citizen activist, exploring his lived experience of systemic racism in North America and the paths forward.
My race duality has given me a unique perspective on both the Black and white experience in Canada..... What became most evident to me – most universal – was an important need for building bridges of understanding between Black and white Canadians. A need to inform and educate so that hopefully, in due time, we can achieve real change.
As a bilingual, biracial man, straddling Black and white, English and French Canada, Stephen Dorsey lives in a world of dualities. In his deeply personal and insightful debut, he offers readers intimate and unfiltered access to his lived experience of anti-Black racism around the world, including Canada, the United States, and Europe, focusing on his formative years growing up in 1970s Montreal as a Black child in a white family headed by a racist stepfather, and details his personal awakening inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
A powerful blend of autobiography and social analysis, Black & White is an intimate excavation of systemic racism in North America — from our health-care and education systems, to policing and law, to a deep analysis of the uniquely intersectional discrimination faced by minorities in Dorsey's home province of Quebec. With an inclusive and accessible approach, aimed at community connection and education, Dorsey delves deep into Canada's history of racial discrimination and, by contrasting it with that of our American neighbours, debunks our nation's mythological narrative, providing necessary context on white privilege, which he calls "white advantage", and offers concrete pathways to lasting societal change.
Holding readers gently to account, Black & White is the book for the ally in all of us.
Reviews
"If you've ever wondered if Canadians of African descent have convincingly made the case that systemic anti-Black racism is a living reality, worry no more, because Stephen Dorsey's scintillating and powerful book lays out the most compelling case yet.
Black and White is informative, interesting, and challenging, while carefully footnoted with historical truths from both Canada and the United States. What makes it even more convincing is that the biracial and bilingual author shares with us the painful, shockingly personal anti-Black racism encountered in his own home throughout his formative years.
Dorsey doesn't merely list the usual complaints about how Blacks have suffered over the last four hundred years; instead, he provides many practical solutions and remedies for those with the authority to implement them. As he puts it, "It's time for our government to become more proactive rather than reactive and lead the way in bringing about systemic reform that will lead to greater equality."
After detailing his countless in-your-face encounters with racism, he concludes that to be successful in his chosen career, his Blackness is a reality he has to "transcend."
Black and White is beautifully written-a must-read.
— Senator Donald Oliver, CM, ONS, QC, author of A Matter of Equality
"A compelling mix of autobiography and social analysis, Stephen Dorsey's new book is ultimately a call to action."
— SaltWire
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/lifestyles/the-book-shelf-stephen-dorsey-traces-his-personal-experience-with-racism-in-his-new-book-100689135/#.YgEtoYSym7o.gmail"[Black & White] should be required reading for all clergy in the United Church, whether student or practicing in our Boundaries Training which must be renewed every 5 years if one is to continue to practice ministry."
- Member of the Retired United Church Ministers Advisory Group