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tellsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
HEAVY.
She literally covers every single emotion that I've ever felt talking to white people about race. From the disputes to the disagreements to the battles through straight nonsense, she highlights every single reason and clearly outlines every response in a British and sometimes American context to every stupid reason someone white has used to uphold white privilege or debate the validity, existence and perpetuation of racism and discriminatory practices.
Reni Eddo-Lodge reached into my head and spoke every moment of rage and frustration that I've ever had, and I'm sure many people of colour and black people have ever had, discussing race with a white person. She spoke every moment of rage even the secret ones that I’ve ever experienced - ever. In. My. Life.
I'm so glad that she wrote this book. I started to read this book a long, long time ago and stopped because I don't think it was the right time for me. I was deep in the trenches of arguing with white people on a daily basis re: different aspects of humanity. Now that I've taken a step back for a few months, this was a timely read that spoke to me and validated the break I definitely knew that I needed.
I have more thoughts; but I'll leave this here for now.
She literally covers every single emotion that I've ever felt talking to white people about race. From the disputes to the disagreements to the battles through straight nonsense, she highlights every single reason and clearly outlines every response in a British and sometimes American context to every stupid reason someone white has used to uphold white privilege or debate the validity, existence and perpetuation of racism and discriminatory practices.
Reni Eddo-Lodge reached into my head and spoke every moment of rage and frustration that I've ever had, and I'm sure many people of colour and black people have ever had, discussing race with a white person. She spoke every moment of rage even the secret ones that I’ve ever experienced - ever. In. My. Life.
I'm so glad that she wrote this book. I started to read this book a long, long time ago and stopped because I don't think it was the right time for me. I was deep in the trenches of arguing with white people on a daily basis re: different aspects of humanity. Now that I've taken a step back for a few months, this was a timely read that spoke to me and validated the break I definitely knew that I needed.
I have more thoughts; but I'll leave this here for now.
beebsreads_x's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
shailydc's review against another edition
3.0
I agree with the sentiment but find the writing so jumbled; moving on after reading half.
isabelreads33's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
katiescho741's review against another edition
4.0
So much to think about in this book. I didn't know this book was UK-based before I started reading it - I think it's so easy to sit here in the UK and watch the racism shit show in America and feel a bit superior that at least that sort of stuff doesn't happen here. But, of course, it does, and this book is a strongly-worded reminder that it's been going on for years.
The chapter about feminism was very interesting, as well as the discussions about tokenism, immigration, and poverty/class.
There are a lot of hard truths in this book for white people in the UK, but they are obviously important ones.
The chapter about feminism was very interesting, as well as the discussions about tokenism, immigration, and poverty/class.
There are a lot of hard truths in this book for white people in the UK, but they are obviously important ones.
mvasso's review against another edition
5.0
This is an eye-opening look at structural racism, particularly in Britain, that every white person should read. I've read a lot about race and civil rights in the US, but I knew little about the situation in the UK. It was interesting to learn that history, and much of Eddo-Lodge's observations are universal to countries with white majorities. Some parts that stood out to me the most:
"I think that we placate ourselves with the fallacy of meritocracy by insisting that we just don't see race. This makes us feel progressive. But this claim to not see race is tantamount to compulsory assimilation. My blackness has been politicised against my will, but I don't want it willfully ignored in an effort to instill some sort of precarious, false harmony."
"Not seeing race does little to deconstruct racist structures or materially improve the conditions which people of colour are subject to daily. In order to dismantle unjust, racist structures, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is disproportionately impacted by negative stereotypes about their race, and to who power and privilege is bestowed upon--earned or not--because of their race, their class, and their gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system."
"How can I define white privilege? It's so difficult to describe an absence. And white privilege is an absence of the consequences of racism...when I talk about white privilege, I don't mean that white people have it easy, that they've never struggled, or that they've never lived in poverty. But white privilege is the fact that if you're white, your race will almost certainly positively impact your life's trajectory in some way. And you probably won't even notice it."
"There is an unattributed definition of racism that defines it as prejudice plus power. Those disadvantaged by racism can certainly be cruel, vindictive and prejudiced. Everyone has the capacity to be nasty to other people, to judge them before they get to know them. But there simply aren't enough black people in positions of power to enact racism against white people on the kind of grand scale it currently operates at against black people."
"I think that we placate ourselves with the fallacy of meritocracy by insisting that we just don't see race. This makes us feel progressive. But this claim to not see race is tantamount to compulsory assimilation. My blackness has been politicised against my will, but I don't want it willfully ignored in an effort to instill some sort of precarious, false harmony."
"Not seeing race does little to deconstruct racist structures or materially improve the conditions which people of colour are subject to daily. In order to dismantle unjust, racist structures, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is disproportionately impacted by negative stereotypes about their race, and to who power and privilege is bestowed upon--earned or not--because of their race, their class, and their gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system."
"How can I define white privilege? It's so difficult to describe an absence. And white privilege is an absence of the consequences of racism...when I talk about white privilege, I don't mean that white people have it easy, that they've never struggled, or that they've never lived in poverty. But white privilege is the fact that if you're white, your race will almost certainly positively impact your life's trajectory in some way. And you probably won't even notice it."
"There is an unattributed definition of racism that defines it as prejudice plus power. Those disadvantaged by racism can certainly be cruel, vindictive and prejudiced. Everyone has the capacity to be nasty to other people, to judge them before they get to know them. But there simply aren't enough black people in positions of power to enact racism against white people on the kind of grand scale it currently operates at against black people."
isabelbrieler's review against another edition
4.0
It's difficult to know how to review something like this -- I don't read a lot of non-fiction, so my go to has generally just been to rate based purely on enjoyment and get more into the analysis from there. That seems...less applicable now. I wouldn't say I enjoyed reading this book, but I found it to be largely well written, mostly interesting, and, I think helpful, both with framing my own perspective of the world and in how to talk about race with other white people.
I've often found myself disagreeing with white people about their commentary on race, but not really having the specific words to voice why or how in the moment, and Eddo-Lodge addressed a lot of those examples explicitly, which was my favorite part of this book.
Unfortunately, I found the book to be a little bit repetitive and much more history-heavy than I was expecting. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race covers the black history of Britain extensively, but as someone who is not British, I found it difficult to be engaged in those passages. I have no personal context for the more recent events and an extremely limited framework for British history as a whole.
I've often found myself disagreeing with white people about their commentary on race, but not really having the specific words to voice why or how in the moment, and Eddo-Lodge addressed a lot of those examples explicitly, which was my favorite part of this book.
Unfortunately, I found the book to be a little bit repetitive and much more history-heavy than I was expecting. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race covers the black history of Britain extensively, but as someone who is not British, I found it difficult to be engaged in those passages. I have no personal context for the more recent events and an extremely limited framework for British history as a whole.