So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Publisher: Seal Press
Publication Date: January 16, 2018
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

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.

Although So You Want to Talk About Race was first published in 2018, it made its way back to The New York Times bestseller list this summer after George Floyd’s murder. Every chapter in the book is a question – like what is Racism or Why Am I Always Being Told to Check My Privilege? or Is Police Brutality Really About Race and so much more. Oluo addresses multiple core issues related to race that most white people probably haven’t given much thought to or may not understand why race is an integral part of the problem – like the school to prison pipeline. Even if you consider yourself “woke”, I can almost guarantee, there will be something in this book that is new to you or is a new perspective on something you thought you already understood. I’ve studied a lot about race and racism over the years and my copy of this book still has tons of pages marked with post-its and highlighted.

I think the best part of this book is that Oluo explains things in accessible language that makes it easier to have conversations with people. For example, before I read this book, I knew that cultural appropriation is wrong but I didn’t have the language to articulate why simply and coherently. Or trying to explain to a white person why they can’t use the N-word, even if they are just quoting rap lyrics. These are just a couple of examples. This book is not just for white people to learn how to talk about race; she addresses people of color as well. Highly, highly recommended.

Side note: Oluo’s second book, Mediocre, was published a couple of weeks ago. I’m about half-way through reading it and it’s just as brilliant. Stay tuned for my review coming soon!