So You Want to Talk About Race
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4.2 • 468 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America
Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had questions about police reform? 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 police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life.
"Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for these times, and any time, truth be told." ―Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can't Touch My Hair
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Journalist Ijeoma Oluo isn’t here to hold anyone’s hand—the short essays in So You Want to Talk About Race are as blunt and provocative as their titles, like “Why Am I Always Being Told to ‘Check My Privilege’?” and “But What If I Hate Al Sharpton?” This is not a book that attempts to teach white people how to talk about race with their white friends, relatives, or co-workers. Instead, her focus is on getting the reader to think about their own privilege, and how structural racism affects everyone’s lives. Crucially, Oluo repeatedly stresses that because racism is such an emotionally charged topic, we’re all going to make mistakes in the moment, or as one title puts it, “I Just Got Called Racist, What Do I Do Now?” Oluo acknowledges that she doesn’t have any quick, easy-to-follow tips for battling institutional racism—“I’m not a magician,” she wryly notes—but this short, intense book can help you focus your own thoughts and feelings on the subject, and that’s a good start.
Customer Reviews
See AllIncredibly informative
Absolutely incredible read on how to approach the conversation of race in America. Educational, informative, and empowering. I highly recommend.
Ok...so you got my attention, but
Page one was a turn off! What about a self identity crisis is based on racism? While I am not a black woman I did experience all of the issues the writer faced. Clothes that didn’t fit my body, not being considered magazine beautiful, being too loud and opinionated. Not getting those jobs I wanted and others being hired. Why are these problems your race? Everyone has them, not just POC, especially if you are from lower to middle class incomes.
There are bars and neighborhoods in my area I wouldn’t feel comfortable in.. GET OVER YOURSELVES PEOPLE.
Expertly written
She has such a clear and concise manner that makes her work so easy to enjoy and to explain to others! I appreciate how skillfully she used her personal anecdotes to illustrate larger trends and how graceful she was about “sharing the spotlight” by honoring people who helped her on her own Anti-Racist journey. She’s an excellent wordsmith and I cannot recommend her enough!