Nice White Ladies

In Nice White Ladies, race and gender professor Jessie Daniels looks beyond the "Karens" and the pussy hats, to offer an illuminating look at how white women participate in, benefit from, and--crucially--can combat racism.

Chapter by chapter, Daniels looks at the most urgent examples of how white womanhood has been weaponized today, and then dives deeper into the history and the false narratives behind these events. She examines specific figures including Amy Cooper and the Central Park birdwatcher, and Linda Fairstein and the Central Park Five, but also looks at larger social shifts and the role white women have had in deepening existing inequalities. Seemingly empowering movements for white women have also harmed people of color, from a feminism that had pushed the voices of Brown and Black women aside, to an entire wellness industry that insulates white women in bubble of their own privilege. White women are often unwilling to examine the fact that their day to day choices, including selecting only the best schools and neighborhoods for their children, results in a hoarding of resources for white families and a return to segregation.

In a nation deeply divided by race, Jessie Daniels boldly addresses white women's complicity in discrimination but also in their unique potential to resist and dismantle the white nationalism that threatens us all. The stakes are deeply personal for Daniels, as a white woman seeking to call in fellow white women, with an invitation to think together and act-rather than simply call out and criticize. By excavating her own life for examples of failing, learning, evolving, and changing course, Daniels provides a roadmap for other white women looking to make much needed change. Ultimately, she shows how white women can be more than allies, but trusted accomplices in a shared mission to secure equality for all.

“"This nation has never, ever read anything like Nice White Ladies . Daniels writes what is rarely spoken with supreme skill and substantiates her claims as though her life depended on it. I'd love to live in a world where every white woman on earth reads this book -- it could change everything." -- Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: an American Memoir”

"Buttressed by Daniels's personal reflections and lucid readings of American history and culture, this is a bracing yet actionable call for change."
--Publishers Weekly
"Daniels breaks down the role of white women in maintaining the prevalence of white supremacy in American society, emphasizing that even white women who "mean well" are complicit."--Library Journal
"Daniels, a Race and Africana Studies scholar, "calls in'' nice white ladies to dismantle white supremacy and promote a non-gendered feminism focusing on the intersections of race, class, sexuality, and more...Daniels creates a "we're all in this together" tone by framing the narrative with her personal anti-racism journey, including her racist ancestry (her grandaddy was a Klansman). A welcome addition to the anti-racism canon."
--Booklist
"An immensely readable examination of White women's prominent role in the endurance of systematic racism... the author uses a wide array of examples of "nice white ladies" both on the right and the left... [she] also discusses the tragic suicide of her mother, who, despite relative privilege, was "taught to be nice above all else"--like many White women. Daniels, who has clearly done the work of examining herself first, concludes by offering constructive ways White women can undo the damage of their privileged status."
--Kirkus

"This is the book on whiteness we've been waiting for. Jessie Daniels pulls no punches as she unravels centuries of American narratives that cast white women as innocents, victims, and saviors. Drawing a straight line from lynching picnics to Karen-hood, Daniels deconstructs the tiny daily behaviors of "nice white ladies" that create structural racism across the United States today. This book is a powerful calling-in of her fellow white women, highly recommended for those who want to push past their conditioning."

--Minal Hajratwala, author of Leaving India
"Once again, Jessie Daniels has given us a crucial book for understanding race in America. This should be required reading for all who want to dismantle racist systems that limit what could otherwise be possible."--Safiya Noble, author of Algorithms of Oppression

"A timely call to action for us white women everywhere in a moment plagued by the rise of white supremacy. Daniels lucidly details the mundane and sadistic ways that white women uphold white supremacy, even when it comes at great personal cost. Her work does not allow 'nice white ladies' to simply wallow in guilt, but encourages us to concretely challenge the ways we reinforce racial hierarchies."

--Alyssa Bowen, PhD, research fellow at True North Research

"If the title makes you squirm, this book is for you. Nice White Lades is a manifesto for readers who are ready to do the real work of reckoning with our shared racist inheritance."

--Ruha Benjamin, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University

"This nation has never, ever read anything like Nice White Ladies, and it shows every single day. Paragraph after paragraph, Jessie Daniels illustrates that's it's not enough just to say what no one is saying. We must, as she does, write what is rarely spoken with supreme skill and a desire to substantiate our claims as though our lives depended on it. I'd love to live in a world where every white woman on earth reads this book. It could change everything."

--Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: an American Memoir

"With compassion, care, and a gentle double-dare, Daniels' book cuts straight through the noise. I now know what I should do to help dismantle systemic racism, and I'm doing it. I'll always be grateful for this book."

--The Rev. Dr. Susan Corso, minister and novelist
"Mixing stories of her own youth and family with current events, Daniels calls in all white women to look at where they were, where they are, and where they are going. Instead of shying away from difficult truths, she invites readers to sit with them--to look across the table or into the next cubicle and see the impact of generations of choices. As uncomfortable as it is necessary."--Mikki Kendall, New York Times-bestselling author of Hood Feminism

Jessie Daniels is the author of White Lies and a Faculty Affiliate at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Professor at Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, in Sociology, Critical Social Psychology, and Africana Studies. Jessie is internationally recognized as an expert on Internet manifestations of racism and her writing on race has appeared in The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, and Newsweek. She lives in New York City.

In Nice White Ladies , race and gender professor Jessie Daniels looks beyond the "Karens" and the pussy hats, to offer an illuminating look at how white women participate in, benefit from, and-- crucially --can combat racism.Chapter by chapter, Daniels looks at the most urgent examples of how white womanhood has been weaponized today, and then dives deeper into the history and the false narratives behind these events. She examines specific figures including Amy Cooper and the Central Park birdwatcher, and Linda Fairstein and the Central Park Five, but also looks at larger social shifts and the role white women have had in deepening existing inequalities. Seemingly empowering movements for white women have also harmed people of color, from a feminism that had pushed the voices of Brown and Black women aside, to an entire wellness industry that insulates white women in bubble of their own privilege. White women are often unwilling to examine the fact that their day to day choices, including selecting only the best schools and neighborhoods for their children, results in a hoarding of resources for white families and a return to segregation.In a nation deeply divided by race, Jessie Daniels boldly addresses white women's complicity in discrimination but also in their unique potential to resist and dismantle the white nationalism that threatens us all. The stakes are deeply personal for Daniels, as a white woman seeking to c all in fellow white women, with an invitation to think together and act-rather than simply call out and criticize. By excavating her own life for examples of failing, learning, evolving, and changing course, Daniels provides a roadmap for other white women looking to make much needed change. Ultimately, she shows how white women can be more than allies, but trusted accomplices in a shared mission to secure equality for all.

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