Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America is a nonfiction book by Michael Eric Dyson (2017). Dyson explores racial relations and the long history of injustice and discrimination against African American individuals in the United States. In the form of a sermon, Dyson addresses white Americans and urges them to join Black people in the struggle against racism. The book tackles the issues of white privilege, Black people’s suffering and perseverance and the possibilities of social change. It emphasizes the idea of “whiteness” as a social construct that reinforces racism and thwarts America’s sociopolitical progress. The sermon’s objective is to engage white Americans in a productive conversation about race and the country’s historical past.

Michael Eric Dyson is an author of nonfiction books, a professor of sociology, and an ordained Baptist Minister. Dyson is also a media commentator and activist, advocating for social justice and the rights of African American individuals.

This study guide refers to the 2017 e-book version by St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

Content Warning: The book discusses issues of racism, discrimination, inequality, and police violence. To explore these topics, the text reproduces historical racial slurs. This study guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word.

Summary

Dyson structures the book as a sermon to discuss race and the issue of racism in America. He addresses white Americans in a direct address and second-person narrative that aims to draw attention to the persistence of racial inequality.

Dyson’s thesis is that America has a problem with racism and needs redemption. He illustrates the long history of racial discrimination and violence beginning with the legacy of slavery. Dyson hopes for social change and encourages white Americans to confront their privilege and address the injustice and oppression of African Americans. To this day police brutality causes suffering for Black people. Racism impacts the minds of Black youth. American citizens must collectively acknowledge the county’s racist foundations.

Dyson argues that whiteness is social construct, disconnected from white humanity. The mythology of whiteness, which attaches power and privilege to white people, has defined American history and identity. The ideology of whiteness reinforces racism, excluding and erasing Black people’s history and culture. As a construct, it values white lives over the lives of other people. Whiteness is an invention that appears as the norm, as racially neutral and human. Dyson argues that the acknowledgement of white privilege and the deconstruction of whiteness is the key to battle racial inequality.

White Americans resist social change because of their attachment to whiteness. When confronted with the issue of racism, they express “white grief,” where white people, afraid of losing dominance, try to keep control of the historical narrative. White people have historically projected their fears and grievances onto Black people. White Americans resist confronting their privilege and recognizing Black history and humanity. They claim ignorance about African American history, deny the past, appropriate Black culture, or revise history to justify whiteness. “White innocence” and “white fragility” express a willful ignorance of history that impedes social progress.

Dyson urges white people to abandon the myth of whiteness. White Americans must assume responsibility for their privilege and accept their responsibility for racism; to confront racism means to embrace the discomfort the issue brings.

Dyson focuses on Black life in America and discusses the n-word not only as a racial slur, but as a pervasive racial stereotype of Black people. African Americans have reappropriated the word to subvert its racist meaning and affirm Black humanity. Dyson discusses institutional racism, explaining the policies and practices that reinforce the marginalization of the African American community. The criminalization of Black people is a result of discriminatory policies and practices that result in lack of resources, unemployment, and limited access to education.

Dyson focuses on police brutality and its devastating impact on African Americans. Police brutality indicates the persistence of institutional racism. Dyson connects contemporary police violence to slavery to illustrate the long history of controlling and policing the Black body. Dyson criticizes an unjust legal system that rarely holds police officers who kill Black people accountable. The police perpetuate a long history of racism against African Americans. Ultimately, police violence reveals the racist power structures at the core of America. Dyson criticizes white people’s silence about the issue of police brutality.

Dyson describes practices that white people should adopt to help the Black community. He suggests reparations, education about Black history and culture, education about white privilege, and participation in activism against racial inequality. For Dyson, empathy is key in the struggle against racism. White people must imagine themselves in Black people’s places and identify with their experiences.

Dyson remains hopeful about the possibility of social change and equality. He praises the perseverance and courage of African Americans, emphasizing that racial struggle is ongoing. At the end, he affirms Black humanity and its centrality in American history.