Review: The Empathy Gap: It Is Black and White by Tammy Triolo

Hello friends,

I wanted to highlight everything in this book. At once a balm to the spirit and a spirited rebuttal of the failings of the emotional systems that underpin white supremacist thinking and discriminatory and racist systems, The Empathy Gap was the book I needed. It's an easy read with hard truths that suggests how we can move forward in community and honouring our shared humanity.

The Empathy Gap: Description and Chapter Listing

Here's the book description from author Tammy Triolo's website:

"The Empathy Gap examines how white supremacy has reshaped our emotional lives, eroding empathy, distorting connection, and normalizing emotional disconnection in ways many of us have never named. Through fifteen patterns, the book explores how empathy is suppressed, extracted, or denied both toward others and within ourselves. It invites readers to reflect on what supremacy has taught them not to feel, and offers a path toward reclaiming empathy as a daily, embodied practice."

And here's the chapter listing:

Prologue: Understanding Empathy

Chapter 1: Emotional Invalidation

Chapter 2: Disconnection from Impact

Chapter 3: Fragile Self Protection

Chapter 4: Efficiency Over Humanity

Chapter 5: Hierarchies of Worthiness

Chapter 6: Suppression of Grief and Rage

Chapter 7: Demand for Emotional Conformity

Chapter 8: Policing Empathy

Chapter 9: Conditional Compassion

Chapter 10: Fear of Emotional Accountability

Chapter 11: Emotional Extraction

Chapter 12: Normalization of Emotional Detachment

Chapter 13: Monopolization of Victimhood

Chapter 14: Disdain for Vulnerability

Chapter 15: Institutionalized Gaslighting

Chapter 16: The Invitation to Empathy

Chapter 17: A Love Letter To Us

Chapter 18: The Path Forward

Epilogue

An Easy Read

This is a good book. It's well-written and flows easily from one thought to the other, carrying you with it. As you'll see in the chapter listing above, the first 15 chapters identify the titular empathy gap, seeing where it shows up in who deserves it, how it's policed, gaslighting, suppression of valid feelings and much more.