IS IT RACIST? IS IT SEXIST?
Authors
Jessi Streib
Betsy Leondar-Wright
Jessi Streib and I co-authored this book, Is It Racist? Is It Sexist? Why Red and Blue White People Disagree, and How to Decide in the Gray Areas (Stanford University Press, 2025)
If you’d like to read it in a book group, here’s a Discussion Guide.
If you’d like to use it in a college course, here’s a Teaching Guide.
"Using engaging prose that will appeal to anyone curious about the reasoning behind white views on racism and sexism, Streib and Leondar-Wright expose the different logics whites use to make sense of charged situations. Highly recommended!”
NATASHA WARIKOO
Author of Is Affirmative Action Fair?
“A good book to think with. The authors are candid about their own leanings out of the gate, and speak unapologetically and earnestly from that point of view, while also modeling intellectual charity and humility. In this way, the book itself serves as a good example of the habits the conclusion encourages for others. A valuable book for social analysts and laypeople alike, across a broad spectrum of moral and political views.”
MUSA AL-GHARBI
Author of We Have Never Been Woke
“This is an accessible, must-read book for everyone interested in understanding how white people make sense of racism and misogyny, including scholars looking for new frames for understanding how individuals interact with hegemonic narratives of structural inequalities. Essential.”
A. J. Hattery
CHOICE
Media coverage of Is It Racist?
- “The Fallacy of Thinking that Trump Voters Are Probably Racist” by Betsy Leondar-Wright, in the Boston Globe
- Is it Racist? Is it Sexist? Unpacking Bias and Bridging America’s Deep Divides by Vishal Balachandar at Duke.edu
- “You May Be Missing the Racism and Sexism Happening in Your Firm” by Jessi Streib in Forbes.
- We Thought We Knew Racism and Sexism WSCA “Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen
- Cambridge Day: “Asking white people ‘Is It Racist? Is It Sexist?,’ these researchers and authors found surprises”
- WTBF – Troy Alabama, and On the Shelf podcast “Betsy Leondar-Wright opens a civil dialog about Racism & Sexism“
- WAMC New York State NPR Betsy Leondar-Wright asks people to make judgement calls in “Is It Racist? Is It Sexist?: Why Red and Blue White People Disagree, and How to Decide in the Gray Areas“
- WAMC NPR (51%) – Betsy Leondar-Wright asks ‘Is it Racist? Is it Sexist?’
- KAZI “Diverse Voices Book Review” Austin TX. Betsy Leondar-Wright Co-Authors Book That Examines How Inequalities Persist by Hopeton Hay Podcast.
Conversations Live, airing on Blogtalkradio.com, I Heart Radio and several radio stations Author Betsy Leondar-Wright discusses Is It Racist? Is It Sexist? with host Cyrus Webb.
Northern Spirit Radio– Truth Among Red & Blue White People: Is It Racism, Is It Sexism?