Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race: The Sunday Times Bestseller

Reni Eddo-Lodge

Jun 2017 · Bloomsbury Publishing

About this eBook

'Every voice raised against racism chips away at its power. We can't afford to stay silent. This book is an attempt to speak'

*Updated edition featuring a new afterword*

The book that sparked a national conversation. Exploring everything from eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today.

THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION NARRATIVE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018
FOYLES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE JHALAK PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR A BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD

Ratings and reviews

If you look at the 1-star reviews, you can see why this book is important (and probably why the title is appropriate). This begins as a catalog of racism in the UK with highly-detailed evidence as well as statements from people who were / are part of the broken system. The research is definitely there and it certainly covers modern events. But the book goes much further than that. I saw maybe two bad reviews that reacted to what was covered in the first ten pages (the free sample) but the rest clearly didn't even get that far. The effort of this book is not to call white people racist or make anyone feel bad; it's to highlight the invisible structure that benefits one group at the expense of another. That can be hard to acknowledge... especially if you aren't doing as well as you would like. But that doesn't make it any less real.

Incredibly whingy, regressive, neurotic, manifesto. Starts off with the writer's 'pain' at glimpsing a dock built on an area where slave ships plied their trade 200+ years ago. Continues with vague and nebulous accounts (guesses) on what the author assumes (but presents as fact) must motivate the white people the author has interacted with (spoiler, it's racism). An example is a white Uni friend that dropped out of a slave trade elective the author took. This is assumed by the author to be an 'indifference to the facts', 'disinterest' and 'opting out'. People drop out of Uni electives for any number of reasons. Assuming racism and then choosing to take it personally is not the brightest way to respond to this. I'd like to state, for the record, that I am a person of colour (South Asian), an immigrant to a first world nation and that in my experience racism in modern society is incredibly rare and, very much in the eye of the beholder. Yes, racism exists but this book blows it out of all proportion and swings from virtue signalling to libel. Avoid it.

I'm new to reading non fiction and I took my time to read this properly and not just as part of a reactionary phase after George Floyd's death. I found it easy to understand, infuriating by subject and motivating to inject anti racism into my life. I also really appreciated the opportunity to read something that is factually backed up with references, as that is probably one of my greatest weaknesses in a debate. I have armed myself with knowledge to aid my anti racism efforts!

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