In this episode 235, we visit with Carolyn Baker, author of An Unintentional Accomplice: A Personal Perspective on White Responsibility, a narrative of one woman’s path to confronting internalized racism, white guilt, and the complexities of racism in America.

Carolyn Baker was 62–years-old when she learned about the murder of Emmett Till, which sparked a personal investigation into her own personal biases. Starting with her cookie cutter upbringing in Southern California, Carolyn confronts white privilege with directness and honesty.

Richard L. Mitchell, PhD, a professor at Cornell University, had this to say about the book, “In An Unintentional Accomplice, Carolyn Baker lulls us through her “cookie cutter” Southern California childhood and Girl Scout ‘white bred’ mantras–that mirror of Disneylandish life–as we bask on the beach in our own smug skins. Then, like a stiletto, she slips in Emmett Till’s American tragedy making Klan enablers of us all without any need to dress-up in a great white sheet. Baker has clearly called out racism as the timeless tragedy in our time.”