From the classroom to the corporate board room this is a must read. Lifting the White Veil by Jeff Hitchcock provides a straight forward, no nonsense, no guilt, no blame book to help white people understand and explore what it means to be White in America. This bold and comprehensive book is a major contribution and critical tool for us all to better understand one of the unspoken aspects of race and race relations today -- being white.

Judith H. Katz, Ed. D.
Executive Vice President, Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group
Author of White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1978, 2003

In Lifting the White Veil Jeff Hitchcock provides an insightful, challenging and much needed roadmap for moving towards a multiracial society.

Paul Kivel
Author of Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice.

I've been wanting to contact you again to deliver additional applause for your Lifting the White Veil. I love to strengthen my audiences instead of beating them up and your approach as a Euroamerican is a positive treat.

Buffy Sainte-Marie
Singer/songwriter, Native American educator

Jeff Hitchcock has performed an invaluable service with this volume, for persons at all levels of anti-racist experience. By presenting the often difficult-to-discuss issues of racism and racial identity in clear, concise language, he has provided newcomers to these subjects with a critical starting point; and for those more versed in the dialogue of race, he has reminded us why these matters are so important.

Tim Wise
Antiracist activist, essayist, Advisor to Fisk University Race Relations Institute

"Decentering whiteness" is at the center of Lifting the White Veil, a new book by Jeff Hitchcock. Unlike much recent academic literature that focuses on whiteness, Hitchcock provides a straightforward, personal, and often moving argument for the need to study whiteness as one culture among many race-based cultures in the United States. Hitchcock lays out a vision of a multiracial America in which white culture will no longer be seen as simply "normal" but one of a mosaic of racial cultures each occupying decentered positions in a society with a multiracial/multicultural center.

Lifting the White Veil will be an essential tool for academic classes covering issues of culture and racial/ethnic diversity in the United States, activists, and all persons seeking to understand whiteness as one of multiple race-based cultures in American society. Hitchcock provides an excellent overview of the history of whiteness in U.S. society and the still recent birth and development of examinations of whiteness by both academics and activists. His captivating description of his own transformation from a "colorblind" young man to a leader in the field of white studies provides lively as well as informative reading for readers of all backgrounds. Rather than preach, Hitchcock shares frank and often brutally honest reflections on his own struggles with racism. In doing so, he eloquently drives home the point that an examination of white culture is, while at times painful, possible and worthwhile for all white Americans.

Kathleen Korgen, Ph.D.
Author of From Black to Biracial, Praeger 1998, 1999

The author of this superbly written and provocative book on race relations is a white psychologist who has spent most of his life in a multiracial environment in US society. Hitchcock shares many of his experiences with readers and offers recommendations to be considered if the ultimate US goal is to create a multiracial society. First, whites must recognize and accept that the US is a racially structured society; it is not a "colorblind" society. Second, the white US, especially white males, is primarily responsible for this racially structured society. Third, white Americans, especially white males, must be part of the move toward a multiracial society. Fourth, Americans must recognize that there is now and always has been a "white culture" in the US, and part of that historical culture has been the dehumanization of people of color (e.g., refrain from saying "my parents did not own slaves"). Finally, white Americans must develop an awareness of what it means to be white privileged or to be white in a racially structured society. Hitchcock strongly suggests that white studies departments in colleges are needed to help white Americans understand their historical role in creating this racially structured society. Summing up: Highly recommended. All levels and collections.

E. A. McKinney, Cleveland State University
From CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, July/August 2003, Vol. 40, No. 11/12, p. 1992.

This is an enlightening, and often revelatory work. The main focus is on the development and current characteristics of the white subculture in the United States. Hitchcock is white, married to a black woman, and worked many years in the field of diversity training and racial reconciliation. He gives white Americans the information they need to start to move beyond ingrained beliefs toward a clearer and more accurate understanding of our society and relations with other races. For those of us who would like to face and overcome the racial exclusiveness incorporated in our culture and traditions this book provides inspiration and tools to move that work forward.

Quakerbooks of FGC

Comments from readers

What strikes me most while reading Jeff's book is how apparent it becomes that he is moving from a place of love. He uses a clear and fluid writing style to approach a subject that is very delicate for most Euro-Americans and does so in a gentle manner, without any unnecessary finger pointing. I think this is what gives him the ability to speak to the average white "Joe". I am amazed that this is a man who has had to overcome nearly 40 years of conditioning to arrive at where he is now. In addition, Hitchcock (along with Flint) does something that very few are doing and that is to offer some solutions. Jeff Hitchcock’s Lifting The White Veil has really helped to open my mind. -Peter D. Caulfield-

Jeff, I recently picked up your book and I was truly amazed! I am currently doing research for my Psy.D project which has to do with how white males come to understand white male privilege. I am a white heterosexual male studying diversity and I know how long it took me to understand white male privilege. I am going to continue reading your wonderful book. Thanks, John Dewey

Dear Mr. Hitchcock: Thank you for writing Lifting the White Veil. You have summarized my thoughts in a way that I could never have organized them. Reading the book was so wonderful - life changing for me - and I can't wait to share it with everyone that I come in contact with. Lynette :-)

I read several chapters.... Good food for thought. I'm ordering or buying the book through the local B&N this weekend. [T]hank you for your book. It will probably get quite dog-eared with the number of times I will be handing it around to friends over the next year. I may have to get a second copy, like I did with Starhawk's excellent "Truth or Dare". Some books are like that. Yours is. Thanks again.

If, as a white person concerned about racism , you would like to read one book that would most expand your understanding and give you guidance as to how to go about making changes - read this book. -Wesley Mason-

Reviews of the original title Unraveling the White Cocoon (CLICK HERE for information about the original title)
	...this is a book that is important reading for anyone interested in learning more about what we were, what we are, and what we might become as a society.	Dr. Vincent N. Parrillo
	In a non-threatening and open tone, Hitchcock tells it like it is....	Dalya F. Massachi
	...It is required reading for all people seeking to achieve a racially just American society.	Levonne Gaddy