So You Want to Talk about Race
Ratings146
Average rating4.6
So, so, good. Ijeoma has the ability to write a book about an uncomfortable topic, and write it in such a way that it helps white people hold up a mirror to society, our laws, and ourselves, to work further to examine & help dismantle white supremacy that is woven throughout. She does it in a way that compels us to sit with that discomfort, but also without shaming. This is a book I plan to read annually and read with my kids.
A lot of the points in this book I'm familiar with already, but I'm not the most articulate when talking, so part of me picking this up was hoping that I'd get more things to think over and help me feel more prepared for those conversations.
I really appreciate the angle this book takes - systemic racism - rather than saying you should focus on each individual person with racist views. This is not only a more productive (and healthier) way to look at the big picture, but I think that helps make this book reasonable for giving to people I know that don't quite know/get these issues, but are receptive to hearing. I also appreciate that the author used an example of privilege that she herself had; I think that helps break down the assumptions that come with that word. It becomes less threatening when we understand everyone has some sort of privilege.
This book cites its sources if you need more info. It's a quick read (especially since I used it as a break from a ~120 year old book I'm reading atm), informative, and respectful to the reader while also trying to help you see from another perspective.
I definitely learned some things. This would be a great book to give to your not-Very-Online parent or friend who is well-meaning but still slides back into respectability politics. (I imagine it serves a similar function to White Fragility, although I haven't read that book, except this book is actually written by a Black woman and thus has that lived experience.) Oluo breaks race, oppression, privilege and more down in a beautifully simple way (well–as simple as it can get) that makes it clear how racial justice is irrefutably necessary, and can help people who are confused or hesitant make the leaps and connections that need to be made.
Easy to comprehend chapters about different topics and issues that can come up when discussing race or things to think about prior to engaging in discussions about race. I found the short and to the point chapters very valuable.
An absolutely wonderful and insightful read, and the audiobook is fantastic! I can highly recommend listening to it.
I really enjoyed the insight of a Black woman and her personal experiences, and I loved how she didn't shy away from talking about how white supremacy and its roots can take hold even in Black people.
I would have liked a longer chapter on cultural appropriation, but alas one book can only do so much, and Oluo really dives into a lot of different topics within racism, so I understand that some things were more “superficial” than others. So informative, and the narration is engaging and easy to follow, which I thought was great. Just very good, overall, you know?
Well written, personal, and with clear directives, this is the book to read if you have questions about racial justice and aren't sure where to start. I also love Kendi's How to be an Anti-Racist, but this is an easier read; like talking to a friend.
I really don't want to write a review for this book except saying that just pick it up. It's a very necessary and eye opening read that'll make us question our own privilege and perspective, help us understand the futility of being defensive about it, and also make us learn better ways to be an ally to Black people and engage in good faith conversations about racism.
The author's writing is both personal and full of facts, straightforward and open, engaging us as a reader in a discussion with her and I found it to be brilliant. I also listened to the audiobook narrated by Bahni Turpin who did a marvelous job making the whole experience feel like a dialogue, and I would highly recommend the format. I just felt that listening made me engage with the subject matter in a much more personal manner. Just pick this up because I found it very enlightening and I think you will too.
So engaging, informative and impactful. This book was so valuable to read and it is so important - definitely one that I will be recommending to anyone anytime I get the chance
This book should be a required read for every single person on this planet. I learned so much from Ijeoma Oluo. She breaks down difficult concepts for the reader, while showing you how to combat these concepts. She gives the reader tips and advice for talking with others about race, and when it is appropriate. She also gives you ways to fight racism with more than just words. She shows you how small changes in your life will help combat systemic racism. Please, please, please read this book.
Really thoughtful and thought-provoking. It was nice to hear from the African American perspective here.
I can't bring myself to rate something that I am reading academically. Just know, this was so good I am getting a physical copy.
A personal life type of review
I've grown up with a majority of white population rural conservative school and with white problematic family members...It's been a struggle and a relief to unlearn everything I've ever grown with. I've listening to so many more voices, come to understandings through the years, and even made some great friends and hope to make more.
I didn't realize I've plateaued in my self improvement on race until black lives matter. I'm making it a point to rise higher. I've got to learn more, listen, share, support, and get out there to make it my fight too. I really recommend this book, it's firm hand that's needed to guide those who benefit from white privilege and those in denial of it. You might feel targeted/awkward in certain segments but continue to listen/read and open your capacity for learning.Feminist? Nah, not until you read [b:Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot|36687229|Hood Feminism Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot|Mikki Kendall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577489813l/36687229._SY75_.jpg|58481445] Take a look if you want to continue this journey~ I rec. this one too!
This was very good. Oluo's writing style is very comfortable, especially when dealing with such a fraught topic. I understand that it is exhausting for black people having to keep talking about race, but I appreciate Oluo for having done so - the personal anecdotes really help frame her points and drive home some of the concepts.
Oluo uses analogies for racial issues that really helped me better understand certain issues. Eg. Poverty for black people and white people is like breast cancer and colon cancer, they both exist and are important to take seriously, but take different cures.
The part on tone policing and MLK vs Malcolm X was really well done, and made me consider things a bit different than I have. (I have definitely been guilty of tone policing before, or at least thinking it even if I wouldn't actually say it.) I really liked when she said that (paraphrasing I think) if there's something someone could do that would make you believe they don't deserve what they're asking for, you never believed in it in the first place.
Chapter sixteen is the main one for white people (I liked the strategy of having it in the back, which she notes as well). It talks about what to do if you're called out or called a racist, and offers good perspectives.
The last chapter deals with what we can do, and if you only read part of this book, that should be the part.
I still have issues with the definitions of racism that are used in many works like this one. It reminded me of that meme that goes around sometimes, about some people use respect for respecting you as a person and others as respecting you as an authority. The definitions don't match, and so someone is always going to be upset. I understand that you have to use a word in a new way over and over to get that new definition to be the norm, but I don't think we're there yet and I think that's where a number of current issues stem from.
On a lighter note, Oluo has a chapter on hair, and, as someone with red curly hair, I know what it's like to have people randomly touch my hair or comment on it, and how annoying that is on my small scale - I can't imagine how annoying that is for black women (and probably men too).
This was very good. As do we all, I have more to read and do, but I'm trying.
Every chapter is like a really important kick to the dick. So nice to sit with something for a few weeks and gradually and let it ruminate and unlock areas of my empathic mind.
There's also so much lingo that gets used now which I have no grasp on, which I feel shame about, and so it was nice to have my ‘dumb questions' answered thoroughly and intellectually (I find random google searches linking to 100 word blog posts unhelpful for me personally)
I hear so many conversations about ‘race' that I have been reluctant to enter because it feels like a mine-field where if I speak I would just be spouting nonsense, and this book very kindly (and in an easily digestible way) helped me understand my nonsense and where to go from there, both in conversation and in my actions as a human.
Learning a lot. Lots more to learn!
This book was excellent.
It is concise while providing lots of important information and personal experiences as examples. As a white woman, this book was very eye-opening and taught me quite a lot about both my own privileges and a greater awareness of the impacts my actions have on others.
I highly recommend it.
This should be a required read for every white person. Oluo eloquently lays out the insidious forms white supremacy take in our society, and how white people are complicit. The author includes poignant examples from her own experience coupled with powerful statistics to illustrate the experience of race in America. I learned a ton from this book, and will continue to reflect on it and talk about it (the discussion section will certainly help!), but what I found most helpful are the points for action. There's a lot to talk about, and a lot to do, and I'm so grateful to have this book in my tool kit.
This is a powerful book about the systemic oppression of people of color in the USA (and other predominantly white countries). Ijeoma Oluo talks about the hardships people of color face, and the danger (and harm) caused by white people caring more about their comfort than the safety and lives of people of color.
She is eloquent in her explanation and stern when standing up to her ideas. The book is honest and unapologetic, yet the author never tells you what to do. According to her, you can do whatever you want, as long as it's legal. She does, however, offer guidelines to those who honestly believe in racial equality and want to change things for the better.
I learned a lot from this book. Not only about the struggles people of color face, but also some biases of my own thinking.
Ever since I was twelve years old, which was the first time I'd ever heard of racial oppression in the US, I've considered myself an ally in black rights activism. But that kind of thinking can easily turn into self-righteous patting yourself on the back, if left without self-analysis. Because of my self-perceived “innate goodness”, I always thought I couldn't possibly be racist, even at the times when I were.
Us well-wishing white folks should always remember that we can (and probably do) act or think in a racist way without intending. We must understand that our good intentions mean nothing if our actions hurt people of color. We should stop focusing on being “good people” in the eyes of the public and just do good things.
Do NOT tone police black people in a heated argument on race. Do NOT talk over them. Do NOT make them prove to you that a racist experience they'd recently gone through was actually racist.
Racists are not just some bad seeds, some single individuals acting our of pure malice. The whole system is racist, and since we, white people, benefit from that system, it is inevitable for us to do or say racist things. The question is - are we gonna waste our time defending the wrong doing, trying desperately to prove to the world we're not racist, or do we actually listen to the people of color we'd hurt, learn from our mistake, and take effort into making sure we never do that again?
If you don't want to contribute to the oppression of millions of people - this book is for you. And don't give yourself the excuse of “I'm not from the US, we don't have racism in my country!”. Chances are that you do. I'm from Lithuania and we have very little black people living here (to my knowledge). I have no idea what it's like for black people to live in my country and what difficulties they face, because I have no one to ask.
I do, however, know a whole ethnic group that has been suffering injustice in Lithuania for ages - the Roma people. And even then I only know the tip of the iceberg of the difficulties they face! So if you are not from the US, and its oppressive system (to your knowledge) does not exist in your culture, think about what does exist. Which ethnicity was always made fun of when you were a kid? Who do your parents and grandparents make jokes about? Which ethnic group is often linked to crime and poverty on your local news? This is the group to start thinking about, whose issues you should read about and, ultimately, whom you can try to help to the best of your ability.
Great fundamental book about modern racism and the fight for racial justice. Oluo shares her experience with the necessary bluntness yet empathy for her reader who probably picked up her book to learn and do better and become an agent for change. Her writing is humorous, enlightening, and despite centuries of hardships for people of color, she remains full of hope. I admire and respect her for it, and recommend this book to anyone.
This book is incredibly informative and pragmatic. It's 1 of 2 books on my “Read Once Every Year” list.
This book needs to be taught in every high school in the country, especially the “good” schools.