Black or White, Now I Understand

De: Byron Katie Mitchell

"The Work" on racism....

Where does hate come from? What effect does it have on each of us? What will it take for it to end? Meet Stearlene, an African-American woman who sits bravely before a predominately white audience and states that she sees white people as the enemy.

Using The Work's four questions and turn-around to explore the theme of racism, Stearlene meets her most frightening thoughts with understanding and discovers the truth behind the pain, a realization so rich that it explodes into love.

Black on white or white on black, the story is the same. "Hate," Katie says, "is nothing more than pure innocence."

©2001 Byron Katie International, Inc (P)2001 Byron Katie International, Inc

Powerful

What did you love best about Black or White, Now I Understand?

It helped me to understand that my thinking is at the source of my suffering

What was one of the most memorable moments of Black or White, Now I Understand?

The moment the woman sees how her thinking had impacted her life

What does Byron Katie Mitchell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The reality of the situation

Any additional comments?

Thank you for this amazing insight

I wish this wasn't abridged

This is a powerful and moving dialogue between a Black woman struggling with her thoughts about racism and Byron Katie, who helps her question her belief system.

This originally was published years ago and also included a white man doing the Work on his judgments of Black people. It's unfortunate that was not included in this abridged edition, as I think it's illuminating to experience both perspectives. A friend of mine told me that she feels disappointed as the only published examples of Byron Katie doing The Work on racism, is with people of color. She said she wanted to see more examples of white people doing work on racism, and I'm saddened that this was abridged to omit that.