Memoir of a Race Traitor | Mab Segrest

Fighting Racism in the American South

304 pages | The New Press

In 1994, Mab Segrest first explained how she had become a woman haunted by the dead. Against a backdrop of nine generations of her family's history, Segrest explored her experiences in the 1980s as a white lesbian organizing against a virulent far-right movement in North Carolina.

Memoir of a Race Traitor became a classic text of white antiracist practice. bell hooks called it a courageous and daring [example of] the reality that political solidarity, forged in struggle, can exist across differences. Adrienne Rich wrote that it was a unique document and thoroughly fascinating. Juxtaposing childhood memories with contemporary events, Segrest described her journey into the heart of her culture, finally veering from its trajectory of violence toward hope and renewal. Now, amid our current national crisis driven by an increasingly apocalyptic white supremacist movement, Segrest returns with an updated edition of her classic book. With a new introduction and afterword that explore what has transpired with the far right since its publication, the book brings us into the age of Trump--and to what can and must be done.

Called a true delight and a must-read (Minnesota Review), Memoir of a Race Traitor is an inspiring and politically potent book. With brand-new power and relevance in 2019, this is a book that far transcends its genre.