White Thinking Behind the mask of racial identity

What does it mean to be white? Beyond just a skin colour, is it also a way of thinking? If so, how did it come about, and why? In this book, drawing on history, personal experience, and activist literature, the former footballer and World Champion Lilian Thuram looks at the origins and workings of white thinking, how it divides us, and how it has become ubiquitous and accepted without challenge. He demonstrates how centuries of white bias and denial justified slavery and colonialism, and have reinforced norms and structures of oppression, limiting the roles and horizons of both nonwhites and whites alike. Crucially, while White Thinking is a critique of ingrained structural inequities, it calls for an inclusive approach to solving the problem, and aims to raise awareness and imagine a new world in which all of humanity is given equal weight.

Lilian Thuram, born in Guadeloupe in 1972, had a prestigious international career in football for the French national team – World champion in 1998, European champion in 2000, World Cup finalist in 2006 – and played for elite European clubs such as Juventus and Barcelona. In 2008, he created the Lilian Thuram Foundation to educate against racism, and he has become a high-profile activist himself. He is the author of various non-fiction books.

Translators’ Note i Introduction 1 1 History 9 2 Being White 85 3 Becoming Human 154 Conclusion 195 Bibliography 203 Index of Names 209 Acknowledgements 212