AAUW Book Review Breakfast

Education of an Unintentional Racist

If you’re born into a community and cultural environment that’s “like a stroll through the Norman Rockwell Museum,” how do you learn to relate to a more diverse world?

Carol Ludwig, Executive Director of the Center for Spiritual Care in Vero Beach, will consider that question as she reviews “Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race,” by Debbie Irving at a Book Review Breakfast sponsored by the AAUW (American Association of University Women). The breakfast is 9:30-11:30am on Monday, Jan. 8, in the Richardson Center of Indian River State College, 6155 College Lane, Vero Beach.

Waking Up White is the book Irving wishes someone had handed her decades ago. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, she offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As Irving unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race. She also explains why and how she’s changed the way she talks about racism, works in racially mixed groups, and understands the antiracism movement as a whole.

Carol Ludwig, spiritual director, supervisor, teacher and retreat leader, presents widely in the U.S. and overseas. Carol was formed in the contemplative-evocative style of spiritual direction through the Washington Theological Union, the Shalem Institute and Mercy Center. Carol has served on the faculties of Audire, Loyola (New Orleans) University, Mercy Center, Sacred Heart University and the Shalem Institute.

The Book Review Breakfast is free and open to the public, although donations of new or gently used children’s books are encouraged. The books are used to stock the local AAUW’s four “Little Free Libraries” for children in the community.

AAUW-Vero Beach is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, whose purpose is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. We support scholarships, grants and programs for women and girls in Indian River County.