So you want to talk about race

by Ijeoma Oluo

So you want to talk about race begins with Ijeoma Oluo describing snapshots of her own life as a Black woman in the United States. She writes, “The realities of race have not always been welcome in my life, but they have always been there.” When Oluo started writing and speaking up about race, she experienced backlash (see: racism) from her white friends.

Oluo describes a conversation with a white, leftist friend who wants to focus on the economy (unions, poverty, minimum wage) and leave the “race stuff” for later. We’ve all had that conversation, or we’ve been the white, leftist friend who wants to leave the race discussion for “another time.” While there will always be white folks who want to leave the racism discussion for “another time” there are many folks of all races who want to talk about race now. Oluo acknowledges that those conversations don’t always go over so well, and so, here is her book. So you want to talk about race offers a 101 framework, regardless if you are brand new to this conversation or have been talking about race for a long time.

“Getting my neighbor to love people of color might make it easier to hang around him, but it won’t do anything to combat police brutality, racial income inequality, food deserts, or the prison industrial complex.”

Oluo breaks down the chapters by subject including chapters with titles such as “What if I talk about race wrong?” “What is the model minority myth?” and “But what if I hate Al Sharpton?” Some of the writings may be familiar if you’ve read Oluo’s articles on The Establishment or Medium, but it doesn’t hurt to re-read them. If you already feel rather knowledgeable on some of these topics, you should still read the book. Oluo’s writing is sharp and witty, and educational while still being easy to read (the writing, not necessarily the content).

I have two notebook pages with notes on this book including page numbers and paragraph numbers, but quoting the entire book isn’t very useful since you can read the book yourself and will get more out of it that way. I did have the privilege of hearing Oluo lecture and would highly recommend attending if you have the opportunity.

“As a black woman, I’d love to not have to talk about race ever again. I do not enjoy it. It is not fun. I dream of writing mystery novels one day. But I have to talk about race, because it is made an issue in the ways in which race is addressed or, more accurately, not addressed.”

The hardcover is published and available at your locally owned bookstore, but paperback versions will be out this spring of 2019. While I highly recommend reading the book, Ijeoma Oluo also has quite a few articles found online as well.

https://theestablishment.co/author/ijeoma-oluo/
https://medium.com/@IjeomaOluo