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Journalist Baynard Woods reckons with whiteness

Baynard Woods is an author and freelance journalist (photo by J.M Giordano). His memoir is "Inheritance: An Autobiography of Whiteness," published by Legacy Lit Books/Grand Central Publishing.
Baynard Woods is an author and freelance journalist (photo by J.M Giordano). His memoir is "Inheritance: An Autobiography of Whiteness," published by Legacy Lit Books/Grand Central Publishing.

Journalist Baynard Woods grew up in the last quarter of the 20th century, son of white parents raised in the Jim Crow South, descendant of forebears who had enslaved hundreds of Black people in South Carolina.

His memoir, "Inheritance: An Autobiography of Whiteness," traces his dawning awareness of the crimes and outrages of his dead ancestors, and his parents’ failure to confront that history and the privileges it created. Woods identifies whiteness as the problem, and calls for it to be dismantled.

On Thursday, August 25, the Ivy Bookshop will host a conversation between Baynard Woods and Leslie Gray Streeter. Details here.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Maureen Harvie is Senior Supervising Producer for On the Record. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and joined WYPR in 2014 as an intern for the newsroom. Whether coordinating live election night coverage, capturing the sounds of a roller derby scrimmage, interviewing veterans, or booking local authors, she is always on the lookout for the next story.