So You Want to Talk About Race

By Ijeoma Oluo

Book Overview

In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America

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.

Oluo gives us -- both white people and people of color -- that language to engage in clear, constructive, and confident dialogue with each other about how to deal with racial prejudices and biases. -- National Book Review

Generous and empathetic, yet usefully blunt . . . it's for anyone who wants to be smarter and more empathetic about matters of race and engage in more productive anti-racist action. -- Salon (Required Reading)

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580056776
• ISBN13: 9781580056779
• Release Date: January 2018
• Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Illuminating and well-written

This book is a valuable one, filled with accessible information and anecdotes that powerfully illustrate some of the differences between being in the privilaged majority vs. the non-privilaged minority in America.  The anecdotes about childhood experiences were especially painful and illuminating. Oluo's writing style is enjoyable and informal, and really really clear. The topics she covers are challenging, but this was a fast, engaging read. Reading this book improved my understanding of our culture.  And the author offers concise, well-thought-out language to describe aspects like micro-aggressions and implicit bias-- I now feel better equipped with ways to articulate these ideas in future conversations.  I initially bought this book new off Amazon! (Rare!) I have already bought another copy to give as a gift, and I am here to buy additional copies to give to friends/relatives whose children are mixed race. The author's anecdotes about her own mother, who is white, make it clear that a book like this could give white parents greater awareness, and many useful tools to better support their children of color.