Thank you, Reni. Now what?

I'm white, male, and hetero. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about race and gender issues. I look at my own prejudices and really try to be as critical of myself as possible.
This book lacks ideas.
The author spends nearly the whole book proving that racism exists in the UK, which is a good thing to do! Hearing the heart-wrenching experiences of people who I will never truly understand, is an incredibly awakening thing. Please, write ten more books on black history and colonialism! But please, include actionable suggestions. To be fair, the author does do this: in the form of a short list of vague ideas less than 3 minutes before we hear "Audible hopes you have enjoyed this production."

I am willing to sit quietly and introspectively while you tell me all of the ways that I am effortlessly benefiting from your suffering. More importantly, I want to put this knowledge into practice in my life. Yes, I can be creative and look for ways to do this on my own. Yes, I can find other books for exactly that. No, you cannot act surprised that I thought a book titled "Why I'm No Longer Talking to [You] About Race" would include things that I can do to help open up the conversation so that we (the novice and the expert) can have a real dialogue and affect real change.

Definitely worth a listen.

14 people found this helpful

Worth a Listen

While I will not say this is my new favourite book, I do think this is well worth a listen. This book has been talked about in so many forms, I think it is important to get your own opinion - and hopefully learn something.

#Audible1 #Audible #AudibleCanada #Book #Books #ListenOrRead #BookWorm #AudioBooks #AudibleApp

5 people found this helpful

We have to change the narrative

I had to stop and consider Reni’s statements several times because I needed to reckon with my compliance with the white dominant norm. I needed this. White antiracist people need this to dismantle the bred-in lies and stereotypes.

2 people found this helpful

Don't judge a book by its cover

Don't judge a book by its cover- or in this case its title.

Remi Eddo-Lodge covers a number of topics related to how systemic racism has thrived in England. Don't let it being based on her British nationality and experiences cause you to write it off if you're not from or living in the United Kingdom though. Many of the points and experiences are unfortunately very similar on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean as well - including mixed race issues, policing of black lives, housing, class, intersectional feminism and more.

The title is more of a way to draw people in than anything else. Remi has likely spoken to more white people since the blog post that she wrote in 2014 which inspired the book was published.

My favourite section was definitely "Chapter 5 - The Feminism Question" and acknowledging that the different intersections don't had a place in white feminist agendas.

Near the end of the book on p. 215 Remi answers the question of "what can white people do to help end racism" which I thought was very clear and helpful. Whether white people who say they are burdened by racial injustice actually do those things is another story. While reading that, one person who came to mind is the American Actor Matt McGorry (How to Get Away With Murder) who has shared many books he's reading on the racial injustice and also shares the marches and rally he attends in support of the black lives matter movement. It also made me think of the white people in my own circles who have remained silent on the injustices facing black and brown people of colour- myself included.

5 people found this helpful

A MUST READ

So eloquent, I recommended it to everyone around me. Read it a second time now. It’s definitely up in my favorite books of all time, and its message will definitely get passed on everywhere I go.

1 person found this helpful

Required reading

Where ever you are in your anti-racism work as a white person, the author generously offers research and lived experience to help you on your journey. Highly recommended.

1 person found this helpful

Questioning my reality

I'm a Canadian of East Indian/Guyanese descent. So I'm brown, not black. Born and raised in Montreal-Ottawa, and now living in Toronto, I've never experienced overt racism. Maybe I have been the victim of covert racism, I have no idea. I've never felt it. I do know racism exists everywhere. Black people in Toronto are carded and stopped for minor or non-violations all the time, at rates much higher than other races, and are discriminated against in a myriad of ways over the course of their lifetime. It happens everywhere and it is absolutely wrong. We hear about it all the time. But this book shocked me. It is really British-centric. Murders of black people simply because they're black. Rampant, overt, public discrimination supported by those in positions of power and so openly discussed on public and political platforms that it seems the entire population feels approval to be racist. It's like something out of a horrible American movie x10. It seems people of colour just walk around fearing for their safety all the time.And while the author focuses on the black population, it affects all visible minorities in Britain. I don't know if the author is exaggerating. I don't think she is. She made me wonder what the heck I was missing as I do not see this public extreme racism here in Canada. We've had a few instances in the news, but these perps are few in number and subject to outrage by the majority. Maybe our racism in Canada is more extreme towards the Indigenous population. Maybe it is just more insidious. I don't know. I finished this book feeling disgust towards how backwards and ignorant Britain is, extremely grateful to live where I live and also confused - wondering if I am so naive, blind and sheltered in Canada. The book is extreme and I hope it does not represent the world. I really don't think it does and hope others don't think it does.

1 person found this helpful

Important

This is an important book for everyone, especially white people to read. Learn about the systems that white people benefit from and start to dismantle them. Highly recommended.

3 people found this helpful

Race from a British Perspective - 5 Star Read

Eye opening. Thought provoking. Very challenging. I thought I knew a fair bit about recent British events (eg going back to Windrush etc) but I was deluding myself.

Clearly I have been benefitting from a structural racist system all my life, while I am coming to recognise this this book is eseential reading (IMO) as Reni Eddo-Lodge give a lot of clarity to a morass of thoughts. And chapter 5 on Race and Feminism, I listened to that chapter twice. I hope I live up to her call to do anti racist work in a sustainable way (with hope and fighting despondancy). As she said “The mess we are living in is a deliberate one. If it was created by people, it can be dismantled by people, and it can be rebuilt in a way that serves all, rather than a selfish, hoarding few.”

Good if you know nothing about race

This is like an introduction book to racism and slavery. If you're black or latino there's nothing in here you don't already know. The vook leans liberal and thats ok.