Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"This is a book that was begging to be written. This is the kind of book that demands a future where we'll no longer need such a book. Essential." —Marlon James

“The most important book for me this year.” —Emma Watson

Selected by Emma Watson as the Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick for January/February 2018

Sunday Times Bestseller

Winner of the British Book Awards Nonfiction Narrative Book of the Year

Winner of the Jhalak Prize

Foyles Nonfiction Book of the Year

Blackwell's Nonfiction Book of the Year

Named One of the Best Books of 2017 by:

NPR

The Guardian

The Observer

The Brooklyn Rail

Cultured Vultures

Award-winning journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge was frustrated with the way that discussions of race and racism are so often led by those blind to it, by those willfully ignorant of its legacy. Her response, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, has transformed the conversation both in Britain and around the world. Examining everything from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance, from whitewashed feminism to the inextricable link between class and race, Eddo-Lodge offers a timely and essential new framework for how to see, acknowledge, and counter racism. Including a new afterword by the author, this is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary exploration of what it is to be a person of color in Britain today, and an essential handbook for anyone looking to understand how structural racism works.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635572957
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	161,833
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Reni Eddo-Lodge is a London-based, award-winning journalist. She has written for the New York Times, the Voice, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Stylist, Inside Housing, the Pool, Dazed and Confused, and the New Humanist. She is the winner of a Women of the World Bold Moves Award, an MHP 30 to Watch Award and was chosen as one of the Top 30 Young People in Digital Media by the Guardian in 2014. She has also been listed in Elle's 100 Inspirational Women list, and The Root's 30 Black Viral Voices Under 30. She contributed to The Good Immigrant. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race is her first book. It won the 2018 British Book Awards Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year, the 2018 Jhalak Prize, was chosen as Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year and Blackwell's Non-Fiction Book of the Year, was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Orwell Prize and shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Non-Fiction.

renieddolodge.co.uk / @renireni

Editorial Reviews

This is a book that was begging to be written. This is the kind of book that demands a future where we'll no longer need such a book. Essential.” —Marlon James, author of Man Booker Prize-winning A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS

“This political, accessible and uncompromising book has got people talking about race and racism in Britain.” —Guardian, "Books of the Year"

“Searing ... A fresh perspective, offering an Anglocentric alternative to the recent status-quo-challenging successes of Get Out and Dear White People. This book's probing analysis and sharp wit certainly make us pray she will continue talking to white people about race.” —Harper's Bazaar

“A clear and convincing dissection of racism and the white denial that perpetuates it.” —Our Best Adult Books of 2017 – Nonfiction, starred review, Shelf Awareness

“A plainspoken, hard-hitting take on mainstream British society's avoidance of race and the complexities and manifestations of racism . . . Eddo-Lodge's crisp prose and impassioned voice implore white Britain to look beyond obvious racism to acknowledge the more opaque existence of structural racism . . . With this thoughtful and direct book, Eddo-Lodge stokes the very conversation that the title rejects.” —Publishers Weekly

“In her probing and personal narrative, Eddo-Lodge offers fresh insight into the way all racism is ultimately a 'white problem' that must be addressed by commitment to action, no matter how small . . . A sharp, compelling, and impassioned book.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The provocative title is hard to ignore, and so is the book's cover. Seen from afar, it appears to be called Why I'm No Longer Talking About Race, which is intriguing enough on its own. You have to look closer to see To White People hiding underneath it in debossed letters. It's a striking visual representation of white people's blindness to everyday, structural racism . . . It's that boldness, that straight talk which makes this book memorable. Eddo-Lodge pushes readers to recognize that racism is a systemic problem that needs to be tackled by those who run the system” —NPR.org

“You don't have to live in the U.K. to recognize the issues of white privilege, class, feminism and structural racism that [Eddo-Lodge] explores in this essential book.” —Silvia Viñas, NPR

“Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge is a timely and sparky discussion about a vital subject.” —Times Literary Supplement, "Books of the Year"

“Her work, which began as a silent scream against white complicity to racism, has shifted the conversation in the U.K. . . . Though she may not be talking to white people about race, she has gotten a lot of people to listen.” —Time Magazine

“Extremely Illuminating.” —Forbes, "Leaders' Books of the Year"

“Reni Eddo-Lodge is that rarest of delights—a young, working-class black woman from Tottenham with a voice in public life ... This book is a real eye-opener when it comes to Britain's hidden history of discrimination ... A book like this matters now.” —Refinery29

“Eddo-Lodge explores the nuanced ways in which racial prejudice continues and is ignored.” —Vogue

“A must-read that expertly reflects the challenges of addressing structural racism.” —Starred review, Library Journal

“A book that's set to blow apart the understanding of race relations in this country.” —Stylist

“I found Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge timely and resonant. The author's passages on intersectionality are particularly poignant. It's a powerful and important read, relevant and accessible whatever your race.” —Observer, "Books of the Year"

“Thought-provoking (and deeply uncomfortable) ... What Eddo-Lodge does is to force her readers to confront their own complicity ... Her books is a call to action ... What makes the book radical is the way it shifts the burden of ending racism on to white people.” —Sunday Herald

“Offering extraordinary and articulate insights into contemporary race relations, "Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race" is impressively informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, and an essential, core addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Social Issues in general, and Race Relations supplemental studies lists in particular.” —Midwest Book Review

“Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race . . . look[s] at racial dynamics in the UK, and does so with intelligence and poignance. Eddo-Lodge's journalism background makes the book the perfect mixture of fact and opinion, resulting in a book that will probably teach you a lot about Britain's racist history.” —Cultured Vultures, "10 Best Books of 2017"

“Eddo-Lodge is digesting history for those white readers who have had their ears and eyes shut to the violence in Britain's past ... An important shift that undermines the idea that racism is the BAME community's burden to carry. The liberation that this book offers is in the reversal of responsibilities.” —Arifa Akbar, Financial Times

“It's deep, it's important and I suggest taking a deep breath, delving in and I promise you will come up for air woke and better equipped to understand the underlying issues of race in our society.” —Sharmaine Lovegrove, ELLE

“Daring, interrogatory, illuminating. A forensic dissection of race in the UK from one of the country's most critical young thinkers. Reni's penetrative voice is like a punch to the jugular. Read it, then tell everyone you know.” —Irenosen Okojie, author of BUTTERFLY FISH

“One of the most important books of 2017.” —Nikesh Shukla, editor of THE GOOD IMMIGRANT

“I've never been so excited about a book. Thank God somebody finally wrote it ... Blistering ... Absolutely vital writing from one of the most exciting voices in British politics. A stunningly important debut ... Fellow white people: It's our responsibility as to read this book ... This book is essential reading for anyone even remotely interested in living in a fairer, kinder and more equal world.” —Paris Lees

“Laying bare the mechanisms by which we internalise the assumptions, false narratives and skewed perceptions that perpetuate racism, Eddo-Lodge enables readers of every ethnicity to look at life with clearer eyes. A powerful, compelling and urgent read.” —Ann Morgan, author of A YEAR OF READING THE WORLD

“Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' has a very special and very real relevance to race relations in the United States and throughout Europe. Exceptionally well presented, impressively informed, thoughtful and thought-provoking” —Midwest Book Review

“Throughout her collection Eddo-Lodge discusses class, race, gender and privilege, through the framework of British culture and history. But whether you're English or not, the book's exploration of inequality will echo with readers all over the world” —Mashable

From the Publisher

07/17/2017
With its provocative title, this debut book by London journalist Eddo-Lodge is a plainspoken, hard-hitting take on mainstream British society’s avoidance of race and the complexities and manifestations of racism. Eddo-Lodge describes Britain’s history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination toward black people, and she shows how this history both mirrors and diverges from the history of America’s treatment of African-Americans. Slavery existed as a British institution for 271 years, but most of the plantations that British citizens operated were in the Caribbean, and as a result “most British people saw the money without the blood.” Once in Britain, black people encountered “No blacks, no dogs, no Irish” signs in the windows of many establishments. Eddo-Lodge’s crisp prose and impassioned voice implore white Britain to look beyond obvious racism to acknowledge the more opaque existence of structural racism. She describes this deep-seated prejudice as “thousands of people with the same biases joining together to make up one organization, and acting according.” She points to the “impenetrable white workplace culture” as an example of the collective effects of bias, and shows how black people face these sorts of disadvantages of every stage in life. Her analysis takes on contemporary issues, understanding Brexit through a lens of white fear of multiculturalism and chastising the kind of feminism that refuses to see the how gender and race intertwine. With this thoughtful and direct book, Eddo-Lodge stokes the very conversation that the title rejects. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly