Adia Harvey Wingfield, a professor of sociology at Washington University, is teaching more than students with her new book, Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It, out October 17 from Amistad. Drawing on the hotly debated ideology of antiracism, the educator and expert on race, class, and gender inequality in the workplace breaks down ways in which racism persists there and offers solutions in service of a more equitable future.
Gray Areas has already been lauded by the likes of bestselling authors Tara Mohr, Eve Rodsky, and Ibram X. Kendi, who has called the book “important for anyone committed to dismantling racism” and “a trailblazing antiracist framework for us all.” While it offers explanations and guidance that apply to those in power in the workplace—managers, C-suite executives, and others—it also puts forward observations and recommendations for individual contributors to workplace racism. The crux of Wingfield’s work is the examination of what she’s dubbed the “gray areas,” the relationships and social dynamics that are ingrained in the workplace and often shut out or stunt the growth of Black workers.
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Wingfield has honed her points and solutions through extensive research and interviews with workers across fields and experience levels, seven of which are featured in the book. Her recommendations—complete with checklists for DEI practitioners, management, HR, and colleagues—provide a blueprint for a more fair, multiracial, and overall beneficial way of working.
