What do you think?
Rate this book
A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life
A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life is designed to help White people fully recognize and accept their racial identity, assume the proper responsibility for ending racism, and develop an understanding of how racism impacts their own racial group.
This powerful text encourages positive racial adjustment and deeper levels of self-understanding. The book explores the meaning of race in society, the "color-blindness" movement, the problem of ignorance about Whiteness, the various phases of internalized racism, and other critical topics. Evocative and meaningful activities throughout the text foster reflection and increased levels of self-awareness and acceptance.
The third edition features updated references and charts, as well as a new foreword by Dr. Allen Ivey.
A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have is part of the Cognella Series on Advances in Culture, Race, and Ethnicity. The series, endorsed by Division 45 of the American Psychological Association, addresses critical and emerging issues within culture, race, and ethnic studies, as well as specific topics among key ethnocultural groups.
Janet E. Helms is the Augustus Long Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and the director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Helms is past president of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the APA). She received the 2019 APA Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychology in the Public Interest and has served on the editorial boards of the journals of Assessment, Counseling Psychology, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Dr. Helms has written many articles and books, and conducts workshops on racial identity, counseling practice, and mental health.
This powerful text encourages positive racial adjustment and deeper levels of self-understanding. The book explores the meaning of race in society, the "color-blindness" movement, the problem of ignorance about Whiteness, the various phases of internalized racism, and other critical topics. Evocative and meaningful activities throughout the text foster reflection and increased levels of self-awareness and acceptance.
The third edition features updated references and charts, as well as a new foreword by Dr. Allen Ivey.
A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have is part of the Cognella Series on Advances in Culture, Race, and Ethnicity. The series, endorsed by Division 45 of the American Psychological Association, addresses critical and emerging issues within culture, race, and ethnic studies, as well as specific topics among key ethnocultural groups.
Janet E. Helms is the Augustus Long Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and the director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Helms is past president of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the APA). She received the 2019 APA Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychology in the Public Interest and has served on the editorial boards of the journals of Assessment, Counseling Psychology, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Dr. Helms has written many articles and books, and conducts workshops on racial identity, counseling practice, and mental health.
- GenresSchool
100 pages, Hardcover
Published June 7, 2019
3 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 5, 2022
Dr. Helms has no time for BS. This book is short and to the point and illuminating. It’s essentially a review of literature on the development of White racial identity, followed by Helms’ own model of White racial identity development. But it’s written with love, compassion, and sternness, in a simple style that belies Helms’ decades of academic research, making the content highly accessible. Google photos of Janet Helms and see that face responding to your BS with silence and a steady gaze. She can wait while you figure it out. There are exercises to help with your critical self-awareness and I’m going to do all of them on my second read.
January 26, 2026
All people should read this book. Point blank period. Highly recommend if entering a field where you are the dominant white race and working with people of color.
April 12, 2022
A very introspective guide on Whiteness and how understanding our race, and our privilege, will help us work towards anti-racism.
June 27, 2025
As a 38-year-old black man reading a book that was meant to be read by white people was an interesting and eye-opening experience. It was written to help white people understand their own racial identity and helped to inform them of how they see themselves, why they see themselves in that way, and ways to better understand their role in this world. Highlighting how they have been conditioned to not see color or ignore the racial inequalities in the world today. The author takes you through each phase of racial identity development and the ways to go from denial and ignorance to honesty within themselves and creating a more anti-racist identity that can help move the world forward and even the scales for all races in regard to wealth, health, education.
What I really enjoyed about this book was how the author is black, and you never feel as if she is yelling or forceful in her message to white readers. With it being such a sensitive topic, the author has a sincere, respectful, and honest tone to the book which truly makes for an easy read for its readers. What really stuck with me was how the author says that white people have a habit of blaming other races for their struggles and how having color blindness is nothing more than having denial in the privilege white people have. Not to bash them but to inform them that they have a duty to acknowledge white privilege, unlearn racist beliefs, stereotypes and behaviors, and challenge the active systemic racism that is happening in our great country.
I can't say that I agree whole heartedly on the statement that white people need to do the work to help promote and change the racial inequality, but I can understand the authors reasoning for her statement. Looking back in history and still today, we have so much systematic racism going on. Jim crow laws only ended a little over 50 years ago, which means there are still so many people in power whose father, grandfather or themselves still share the thought that if you are not white, you’re not right mindset. Mass incarceration, Prison gerrymandering, health care and housing discrimination, and police violence all stem from systematic racism.
I don't want to go on and on, but I promise you that this book is a great read and I employ all races to take time to read this book. Though it seems as if this book was tailored for white readers, I can see the benefits of all races reading and learning from the material inside. As a non--white person, you can gain a deeper understanding of why white people may think the way they do and have more empathy and understanding of their behaviors. And as a white person, you can become more self-aware and understand your role in changing the world for the better.
10 out of 10 would recommend!!!
What I really enjoyed about this book was how the author is black, and you never feel as if she is yelling or forceful in her message to white readers. With it being such a sensitive topic, the author has a sincere, respectful, and honest tone to the book which truly makes for an easy read for its readers. What really stuck with me was how the author says that white people have a habit of blaming other races for their struggles and how having color blindness is nothing more than having denial in the privilege white people have. Not to bash them but to inform them that they have a duty to acknowledge white privilege, unlearn racist beliefs, stereotypes and behaviors, and challenge the active systemic racism that is happening in our great country.
I can't say that I agree whole heartedly on the statement that white people need to do the work to help promote and change the racial inequality, but I can understand the authors reasoning for her statement. Looking back in history and still today, we have so much systematic racism going on. Jim crow laws only ended a little over 50 years ago, which means there are still so many people in power whose father, grandfather or themselves still share the thought that if you are not white, you’re not right mindset. Mass incarceration, Prison gerrymandering, health care and housing discrimination, and police violence all stem from systematic racism.
I don't want to go on and on, but I promise you that this book is a great read and I employ all races to take time to read this book. Though it seems as if this book was tailored for white readers, I can see the benefits of all races reading and learning from the material inside. As a non--white person, you can gain a deeper understanding of why white people may think the way they do and have more empathy and understanding of their behaviors. And as a white person, you can become more self-aware and understand your role in changing the world for the better.
10 out of 10 would recommend!!!
September 7, 2021
I sought this out because I was privileged to listen to Dr. Helms give a brief lecture last year and I wanted more details on her model of white racial identity development. The book delivered very effectively on that count. I appreciated her use of exercises and occasional dry humor.
April 23, 2021
2021 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge #2 Read a nonfiction book about anti-racism
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews