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Surviving the White Gaze
Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir | Rebecca Carroll
5 posts | 10 read | 7 to read
A stirring and powerful memoir from black cultural critic Rebecca Carroll recounting her painful struggle to overcome a completely white childhood in order to forge her identity as a black woman in America. Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural New Hampshire town. Adopted at birth by artistic parents who believed in peace, love, and zero population growth, her early childhood was loving and idyllicand yet she couldnt articulate the deep sense of isolation she increasingly felt as she grew older. Everything changed when she met her birth mother, a young white woman, who consistently undermined Carrolls sense of her blackness and self-esteem. Carrolls childhood became harrowing, and her memoir explores the tension between the aching desire for her birth mothers acceptance, the loyalty she feels toward her adoptive parents, and the search for her racial identity. As an adult, Carroll forged a path from city to city, struggling along the way with difficult boyfriends, depression, eating disorders, and excessive drinking. Ultimately, through the support of her chosen black family, she was able to heal. Intimate and illuminating, Surviving the White Gaze is a timely examination of racism and racial identity in America today, and an extraordinarily moving portrait of resilience.
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rebbyj
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Excellent!!!

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KS1805
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1/52 Excellent book to start the year! The writing alone is beautifully crafted. The subject matter, though, is necessary reading. I am working to change my “white gaze,” this book is an excellent explanation of all the ways whiteness harms BIPOC, and proximity to whiteness is no protection.

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Sydneypaige
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I cannot describe how important this story is - from interracial adoption to family trauma to anti-blackness - there is so much to learn from Rebecca‘s story and experience.

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Karmapen
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This is a hell of a memoir. The author, who is Black, was raised by adoptive white parents, who loved her but didn‘t do much parenting. When she is 11, she meets her birth mother, Tess, a white woman who is racist and manipulative and proceeds to derail the author‘s life for her own gain. It was infuriating to watch as every single adult abandoned their responsibilities to her emotional and physical safety.

Reggie I want to read this because of your review but I‘m angry already so maybe not. 4y
Karmapen @Reggie honestly I‘m glad I read it because the author is amazing but like...it definitely filled me with rage. 4y
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Lindy
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Rebecca Carroll takes a clear-eyed look back on her childhood & young adulthood in this moving memoir about growing up biracial in her white adoptive family, & being the only brown-skinned person in her New England community. Immersion in white culture didn‘t protect her from experiencing stark racism. Then, meeting her manipulative white birth mother really messed with Carroll‘s sense of identity. Excellent #audiobook read by the author.

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