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A review by labyrinth_witch
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
5.0
This was an excellent read about racism in all its forms and for many different groups. It was also a great primer on emotional intelligence - for example, her discussion of prioritizing someone else’s safety over your comfort and her blunt statement that “if you find yourself using ‘I’ or ‘me’ for most of the conversation, there’s a good chance you’re making it all about you.” She has entire chapters covering police brutality, cultural appropriation, micro-aggressions, and so much more.
I came away thinking very critically about who I feel comfortable around and why, how I purchase items, how aware I am of where things come from and who is profiting off them, and all the ways I could have supported efforts to lift up everyone but didn’t because of my choice to remain unaware. And slowly but surely I’m starting to wrap my mind around cultural appropriation, which has been hard for me to conceptually understand. Probably one of the most revealing moments in the book was learning the history of the American Police Force. I had no idea. Just no idea.
I want to start advocating for school curriculum reform. It’s ridiculous that I’m almost 30 and have never learned any of this. And it’s ridiculous that so many people have had to go through the school system with their experience and narrative completely erased or distorted.
I came away thinking very critically about who I feel comfortable around and why, how I purchase items, how aware I am of where things come from and who is profiting off them, and all the ways I could have supported efforts to lift up everyone but didn’t because of my choice to remain unaware. And slowly but surely I’m starting to wrap my mind around cultural appropriation, which has been hard for me to conceptually understand. Probably one of the most revealing moments in the book was learning the history of the American Police Force. I had no idea. Just no idea.
I want to start advocating for school curriculum reform. It’s ridiculous that I’m almost 30 and have never learned any of this. And it’s ridiculous that so many people have had to go through the school system with their experience and narrative completely erased or distorted.