Inheritance

An Autobiography of Whiteness

By: Baynard Woods

Narrated by: Will Collyer

In this unflinching, honest narrative, an award-winning journalist discovers his family’s heritage as slave owners in the South and grapples openly with his whiteness to inspire others to do the same.

"Bracing, candid, and rueful." —Kirkus

Baynard Woods thought he had escaped the backwards ways of the South Carolina he grew up in, a world defined by country music, NASCAR, and the confederacy. He’d fled the South long ago, transforming himself into a politically left-leaning writer and educator.

Then he was accused of discriminating against a Black student at a local university. How could I be racist? he wondered. Whiteness was a problem, but it wasn’t really his problem. He taught at a majority Black school and wrote essays about education and Civil Rights.

But it was his problem. Working as a reporter, it became clear that white supremacy was tearing the country apart. When a white kid from his hometown massacred nine Black people in Charleston, Woods began to delve into his family’s history—and the ways that history has affected his own life.

When he discovered that his family—both the Baynards and the Woodses—collectively claimed ownership of more than 700 people in 1860, Woods realized his own name was a confederate monument. Along with his name, he had inherited privilege, wealth, and all the lies that his ancestors passed down through the generations.

In this gripping and perceptive memoir, Woods takes us along on his journey to understand how race has impacted his life. Unflinching and uninhibited, Inheritance explores what it means to reckon with whiteness in America today and what it might mean to begin to repair the past.

©2022 Baynard Woods (P)2022 Legacy Lit

Critic reviews

“Brilliant...Inheritance delivers the kind of first-person account needed to fully understand whiteness. Woods seamlessly travels from generation to generation to explore his family history. This book is the perfect tool for explaining the other side of critical race theory. Both Black and white America will benefit from the narrative carefully woven by Woods. Both Black and white America will benefit from the narrative carefully woven by Woods. This will be one of the most important books of the year, I highly recommend it.”—D. Watkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Beast Side, The Cook Up, and We Speak for Ourselves

“[Told] with an unsparing eye and engaging style...Inheritance is an intimate, revelatory study in accountability and repair; I was rocked by this book’s candor and the force of its home truths."—Michelle Orange, author of Pure Flame

"A brilliant examination of white identity—searching, searing, ruthlessly honest, painful to read, yet impossible to put down. This is an essential book."—Wil S. Hylton, author of Vanished

WOW!!

Started off slow but wow what a great read !!! I will definitely recommend this book

An inspiring exploration of how family history and society shapes us all

This book offered a powerful and intensely personal look at what it means to be white and have benefitted from a economic and political system built on suppressing the rights of others. The buried truth that the author pursues about his family, and his honest journey of discovering the privilege of moving through the world as a white person is engaging and thoughtful. As someone who grew up in the American south, it gave me a useful framework for better understanding my family’s history, as well as some insight into the long arc of American history that brought us to our deeply divided present. The professional narration was fine, but I found myself yearning to hear the story in the author’s own voice.

Awesome

Great book - very intense and gripping. I could not stop listening to it. Loved it

This helps me start a journey

Being from Memphis, TN, this book resonated w/me. Some of my genealogy uncovered that my paternal great-grandfather fought for the South, while my maternal great-grandfather fought for the North. I've got work to do! Lol

An Important Reflection

This was a worthy journey. I hope it inspires many more to push passed the fables of their family history and to connect the dots within themselves as this author has and continues to. I look forward to the abolition of all of us from this system. It requires what the author suggests in the 23rd chapter and on... Take the journey, some of us have been waiting generations and we're still waiting for the change to come.

Wow!

Heard author on Code switch podcast and knew I had to read the book. Found myself googling his family online while listening. I laughed and was so intrigued. By his life of privilege. Awesome autobiography. One of few white peoples that get it!

Excellent audiobook, beautifully written book

Beautifully written book about race, family history, southern history, addiction, education, and how the author is able to confront his role in all of the above throughout his adulthood.

While the first half made me antsy at times, I realized over and over that he was describing actions and intentions similar to my own in the past (and sometimes present) and that’s what made me uncomfortable. But it was a good discomfort. The confronting kind you need to heal the hurt you cause and hold. As much as Baynard looks outward, in front of him, and to his family’s past, he looks inward, too. And he does so just in time, every time, to make him likable enough to care about what he will do next and how. His relationship with his wife, who is clearly a positive influence in so many ways in this story, is very moving. The high pitch discord between Woods and his father is both heartbreaking and hard fought right until the bittersweet end.

Knowing this book was edited by Krishan Trotman through Legacy Lit gave me confidence that this was a book worth reading. And I’m so glad I did.

Worth a second read

This book has opened a window that allowed the “air” of understanding that would probably never been share with the descendants of the enslaved.

I am truly blown away with Bay’s willingness to speak plainly and with as much honesty has he could muster in the writing moments.
I also admire his perseverance to unlock his family history, as well as the inclination of his family to share that history,however flawed, in family talks.

Many thanks for writing and then having the courage to publish 👏🏾🫶🏾👏🏾

Good.

It made me go back and forth between being curious and frustrated. I liked it overall

One of the few whites who legitimately get it

Growing up as a person of color I could not help but feel resentment towards whites because of the entitlement and prejudice a lot of them carry. People like me get screwed over and left all sorts of messed up in this country’s white supremacist culture. This book ended up being fascinating because it dissects white supremacy from a white perspective. Explains why white people lie and live in a fantasy world disconnected from reality. It is because the comfortable lives they live were a result of cruelty in its purest form and it is a very uncomfortable fact for them to deal with. This book was able to put feelings that I carried for decades into words.