The Cost of Privilege: Taking on the System of White Supremacy and Racism

The Cost of Privilege takes readers from the creation of the white race over three centuries ago to the present-day myth of a colorblind society; from the intersections of class, gender, and race to the concrete benefits--and harsh underside--of the privileges white people experience every day; from the victories when people allied across the color line to the failures of some of those alliances to hold; from personal transformations to international struggles. "Chip Smith has given us a powerful weapon for the battle against white supremacy. It combines an in-depth look at the long history of this profoundly rooted plague with an enlightening, up-do-date review of the many efforts to end it. We have here much more than a brilliant analysis of past and present, the author dares to outline a bold program of revolutionary action that lays out both the challenges to be faced and how to confront them. Who could ask for more?" --Elizabeth (Betita) Martinez, Chicana author, activist and director of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice "The Cost of Privilege is one of those rare books that manages to blend first-rate analysis around racism and white supremacy, with first-rate class analysis as well. The result is that the reader gains invaluable insights into the ways in which capitalism and white supremacy have interacted to produce and reproduce injustice, and the ways in which the working class has remain divided by the promise of white privilege to some of its members. This is an important and insightful volume." --Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son "This is a path-breaking study of the sometimes baffling dynamics of racial oppression in the United States. In fact, this is the most comprehensive and clear analysis of racism and national oppression that I've seen. I especially like the fact that this is a call for action against racial injustice. Sun Tzu wrote the classic The Art of War; but this is book about the "art of liberation" in America today. It is recommended reading for any serious activist fighting for social justice in our time. Not just theory, but a guide to action!" --Komozi Woodard, author of A Nation within a Nation: Amiri Baraka and Black Power Politics "The Cost of Privilege is U.S. history without jargon and blinders. It demonstrates how a stronger grasp of the past may be used to inform social justice organizing in the present. Chip Smith is not interested in moralizing about white supremacy; he wants to dismantle it. Smith presents historical and personal case studies about how to challenge racism as well as anti-immigrant hysteria. Community activists, union organizers, and educators will find this book indispensable in their work." --Paul Ortiz, author of Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida from Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920

About the Author :
Chip Smith has been an international volunteer in Laos, Machinists Union steward, stay-at-home dad, staffer for Jobs with Justice, and scholar. His Ph.D. dissertation at Temple University (1994) examined the impact of Philadelphia's deindustrialization on low wages, African Americans, and unionization. He resides with his wife in Rocky Mount, NC, where he helped start the local Racial Justice Group, and was also a founding member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization / Organizacion Socialista del Camino para la Libertad.

Review :
"The key to Chip Smith's book, The Cost of Privilege, can be found in its subtitle: Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism, which signals that this is the work of a social justice activist. Yet, it is also meticulously researched and based on wide reading. As a teacher, I see this book as a dream text for a high school or university course on racism; as an activist myself, I see it as an organizing manu-al. But, the general reader can be assured that this is a well written and reliable book on a subject that everyday is becoming more urgent." --Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, historian, writer, and activist "The Cost of Privilege is a fine activists' primer for understanding racism in the US from a revolutionary, democratic, working-class perspective. Writing in a down-to-earth style, Smith weaves theoretical insight, political history, and organizing practice together, shows how capitalism, racism, and patriarchy interconnect, and offers excellent ideas for movement building." --Johanna Brenner, author of Women and the Politics of Class