Abstract
I began reading this text with the hope that I might find an interesting new book I could use in one of the courses I teach about race. I found that in this text, and so much more. I also found a guide, of sorts, to engaging students and others in racial justice work. And I found insight into why so many students leave sociology of race courses (in their various forms) passionate about racial justice, yet rarely translate that into action or long term commitment.
This accessible, engrossing text provided me with insight into the vexing question of why more white people do not commit to racial justice work by examining instead the paths of white racial justice activists. Mark Warren asks “How can white Americans come to care enough about racism to take action against it?” (p. 8). In order to answer this question, he conducted 50 in-depth exploratory interviews with white racial justice activists to provide insight into how white people move from mere concern to commitment.
Methodologically, his approach is innovative and pays off well. While there is a substantial psychological literature on changing white attitudes about race, changing attitudes alone does not often lead to action or change. By examining, instead, those who have committed themselves to advancing racial equity, Warren is able to provide readers with a road map of the various obstacles and challenges that likely weed out many people along the way and to identify the common social factors that have played a role in these activists’ continued commitment.
Warren discusses the limitations of other approaches, such as interest-based accounts, which assume rational, self-interested actors make decisions to act because they see it, in some way, to be in their best interest. Fire in the Heart provides a more nuanced account which sees this activism as an ongoing process, a journey that must be sustained over time and requires commitment. He found that activists frequently go through stages, often beginning with a moral shock or seminal experience, which challenges these individuals’ assumptions about race and racism in the United States and throws into question their moral compass. He finds that it is the conflict these individuals see between the values they have been taught to believe in and deeply embrace and the reality of racism that is so jarring and often leads to anger. They feel what Warren terms a “moral impulse to act” (p. 213).
I frequently witness this in students. Yet how many of them actually do anything further, once the course ends? Some of them may become “do-gooders,” contributing to racial justice causes, talking about racism with their friends and family, reading about issues of race on-line, and perhaps even joining a social justice or diversity focused student club. Once they graduate, how many of these students continue these efforts? And why don’t more of them?
The lives of these 50 activists provide further insight here. It is through ongoing relationships with people of color that the white activists remain committed and continue to learn and understand racism at a deeper level. Rather than remaining an abstract moral problem, they come to see its real impact on the lives of people they grow to care about. Building relationships with others committed to racial justice, and especially interracial relationships, nurtures an ongoing commitment. In relationship and community with others, the subjects he interviewed came to develop a sense that they were in this struggle not just out of altruism, but felt a personal sense of investment in the struggle and saw themselves as part of a community working towards a moral and political vision of a more just future.
Interviewees’ paths are fraught with challenges, however. One of the most interesting sections of the book examines the challenges these activists negotiate. They face, at various points, a racial line they must choose whether to cross. Crossing this line can mean the loss of status and threatens relationships with family and neighbors. Because we live in such segregated communities, this line is very real. Many experience loneliness and alienation. They often face mistrust from other whites as well as people of color.
Work for racial justice means they are challenging the racial status quo. As one subject described it: “The price we paid has involved relationships with friends and family. It’s involved relationships with the power structure here, which really affected our ability to operate and raise money as a non-profit….Probably the most painful part of it is the relationships, the strained relationships with friends and family” (p. 186). The activists go through a redefinition of their own identity and must find and build new communities of belonging. These also take work. As another activist explained, crossing the racial line does not bring acceptance on the other side. “Our continuing struggle is that we come from different cultures. That’s the problem about racism. You’re raised in the culture of a racist, white society….It’s hard to overcome that stuff. You have to set it aside and say, “We’re going to understand each other. We love each other. We’re not going to let that throw us. But that’s not easy” (p. 191).
Understanding these challenges can also serve as a source of comfort for others who have chosen this path. At the same time, Warren examines the many positive new relationships that are born from these struggles. Relationships grow into collaborative and collective action and the development of a moral vision. “They find purpose and meaning in a life that works for the kind of society they want for themselves, their children, and all people across racial lines” (p. 213).
Based on his findings, Warren identifies a model of Head (knowledge, interests), Hand (building relationships, taking action) and Heart (values, emotions), each impacting the other in a circular fashion, with no end point. Commitment to racial justice is a fluid and dynamic process.
Fire in the Heart highlights the importance of the moral domain, in contrast to our frequent overemphasis on the cognitive (if we just teach students about the reality they will work to change it) and the rational (if students see that it is in their best interests, they will work for change). Instead, he demonstrates convincingly the essential need to engage the head, hand, and heart.
Warren’s text is well written and fruitfully organized around each stage of these activists’ journeys. It should be read by a range of audiences, including both undergraduate and graduate students in courses in race relations and qualitative methods, as well as activists for racial justice. And this book should be of more than just scholarly interest to those who teach and study race and racism in order to advance the end goal of building a more just future.