February review for Book Riot's Read Harder 2018: So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, 2018. [social sciences category]
This post is late. Obviously. It's been too long coming. I've been thinking a lot about how to write about this beautiful gem of a book,
So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, and putting it off until I had the right way to phrase my thoughts. But I think that is exactly the reason I (and everyone) need to read this book and write about this book and talk about this book. I was keeping quiet so I didn't fuck up and say the wrong thing, instead of starting the conversation and trying to be open and vulnerable and able to be called on my shit. I should write about this even if I'm not sure where to start.
Bottom line. Everyone should read this book. Whether or not you think talking about race/thinking about the way we talk about race is important (spoiler alert, it fucking
is), you need to fucking read it. Ijeoma Oluo’s prose is raw and unassuming. She examines her own story, her own privilege, all the while maintaining that it is hard and it is awkward but it is incredibly necessary to do so. Her chapter titles are all easily-digestible questions that get to the core of the things that make these discussions hard, like "what if I talk about race wrong" and "but what if I hate Al Sharpton." She lays out her stories, her connections, and then seamlessly moves into the grander scheme.
I, as a relatively privileged cis white woman, have been trying more and more to interrogate my privilege and how I interact with the world around me. Recently I've been getting really angry at work because there is a casually racist old man who says things that make me feel like a cartoon teapot with steam coming out of my ears. He is so biased and ill informed and just plain inappropriate that I find myself speechless, but I am trying to figure out how to engage. My partner recently asked why I never say anything to him, just fume at home,and I said that I didn't think it would make any difference. Hearing myself say that out loud was a shock and it put my whole thing into perspective. I have to say something. I have to practice what I preach, to be the change, and all those other cliches. I feel like this book was a good kick in the butt I need. Thank you, Ijeoma Oluo, for raising your voice and being so articulate and honest and just really all-around mind-blowing. Just, thank you, really. You're cool.
