So You Want to Talk About Race
Author: Ijeoma Oluo
Publisher: Seal Press
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Cover Description
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America
Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy--from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans--has put a media spotlight on racism in our society. Still, it is a difficult subject to talk about. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law take umbrage when you asked to touch her hair--and how do you make it right? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend?
In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.
TL;DR Review
So You Want to Talk About Race is a solid, foundational book about antiracism with even more depth than the title implies.
For you if: You want to learn more about being a good ally in the fight against racial injustice.
Full Review
“You have to get over the fear of facing the worst in yourself. You should instead fear unexamined racism. Fear the thought that right now, you could be contributing to the oppression of others and you don't know it. But do not fear those who bring that oppression to light. Do not fear the opportunity to do better.”
So You Want to Talk About Race had perfect timing, published about six months before everyone in this country admitted how badly they needed it. The cover of this book calls it “hard-hitting but user-friendly.” That’s exactly true.
I read this one after I’d already read How to Be an Antiracist, Stamped From the Beginning, and White Fragility, so most of the ideas it covered weren’t new to me. But when it comes to reading about racism, I welcome the opportunity to hear important information reiterated in new voices. This book does it well — quotable passages, compelling arguments, clear explanations.
I was grateful for the depth Oluo goes into when it comes to the history and legacy of whiteness and racism. I sort of expected a book that was just a guide to talking, more of a conversational style guide. It is that, but it’s also filled with all the context that’s important when you’re having those conversations, too.
I think my favorite chapter was the one on why young people are “so angry” these days. I was listening to the audiobook as I cleaned my apartment, and I stopped and stood in the middle of the room to concentrate on a particularly powerful passage about how she hopes her kids find her and us and everyone fighting for change nowadays as out of touch, how she hopes that she taught them to never stop questioning the status quo, how she will be proud to learn from them.
If you’re looking for a solid, foundational book on becoming a better ally in the fight against racial injustice, this is a good choice.