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.

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

“Unexpected, thrilling, and achingly, heartbreakingly beautiful, this is a book about the absolute moral imperative for every person—specifically every white person—to take responsibility for not only what we do, but for who we are.”
—Michael Patrick F. Smith, author of The Good Hand

WOW!!

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

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 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

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.