Review: Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

As a non-black woman of colour, it is as crucial for me to listen and learn from black authors, educators, activists, feminists, artists, and voices as it is for white people. I think it is essential that what we learn from Black voices is not ignored or turned into performative acts of protest. Rather, it is adopted to become genuine solidarity that develops into real structural change.

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge started as a blog post on the 22nd of February 2014 as an act of protest against education on racism to ignorant white people who “don’t want to hear it … and frankly don’t deserve it” that went viral. Due to high demand, Eddo-Lodge amplified her initial blog post into a whole book of seven essays, and Bloomsbury Publishing later published it on the 1st of June 2017. The book discusses the history of racism, the role that Britain played in the enslaved people's trade, racial injustices today, why white feminism is not inclusive, class struggle, and the far right in the UK.

Eddo-Lodge gives us a basic breakdown of the history of racism in Britain, highlighting that the UK is not innocent in terms of structural racism. She goes through a disturbing timeline of Britain's role in the Trans-Atlantic enslaved people's trade in the first chapter. It reminds us that although it feels like a very long time ago, slavery has been abolished for fewer years than it was ongoing. As she discusses Britain’s complicity in the slave trade, she talks about how she looks around and is too often reminded of Britain’s disgusting participation in the Trans-Atlantic enslaved people's trade. She talks about Britain's complicity and how easy it is for white people to acknowledge how terrible slavery was, close their eyes, and walk away from these conversations. She elaborates on how structural policies exclude Black British history and the lack of education around the Trans-Atlantic enslaved people's trade in the British school curriculum.

The history of a racist Britain is accessible. We are clearly able to teach ourselves how the UK is systematically racist and how structural racism plays a role right into today’s society. The problem is that these facts are not taught through our educational curriculum. This is shocking and quite frankly entirely unacceptable. Although I am aware of the unjust, colonisation of the rest of the world and aspects of the Trans-Atlantic enslaved peoples trade, I wasn’t as educated on how near the slave ports were to me. This is a heartbreaking example of Britain’s complacent participation as some of this information was new to me, which makes me still uneducated on the matter. I'm afraid that it is not right, we must be better, we as a nation find ourselves unaware of the impact Britain has, and her damaging role in history. Especially our white counterparts, and even more so, those who are ignorant and refuse to learn of such injustice. Even today, Britain's refusal to change street names that have been named after plantation owners and refusal to remove statues of racist plantation owners is devastating. This, in itself, is clear evidence of Britain's complicity in racism today.

As a fine art graduate, during my undergrad studies, I only read books and heard lectures on and from white artists, which I had internalised and normalised at the time. But this is far from normal. Why are black and brown voices so silenced even through art, literature, and education? I was undereducated through a prestigious British university. Many black people and people of colour, myself included, are highly underrepresented in British society, although we are not far off from a majority. 

Eddo-Lodge also includes a discussion on the ex-BNP leader Nick Griffin, one example of an ignorant white person, who she presents as a common person with an extreme and dangerous attitude and opinion. Further explaining that “white privilege is the perverse situation of feeling more comfortable with openly racist, far-right extremists because at least you know where you stand with them; the boundaries are clear.” 

It is disheartening when Eddo-Lodge makes evident the racial profiling of black people. Eddo-Lodge reminds us of the devastating racial and violent murder of Stephen Lawrence, one of too many. His murderer's case dismissed by the Metropolitan police, yet 19 years later, his murderers are eventually convicted of murder. They, as murderers, lived their lives past their teenage years, while Lawrence did not. 

It is a hard reality for black and brown British people to swallow and one that we know all too well. To read this information and be educated is crucial. White people must take the time to understand these struggles and understand that they are inherently systematic struggles. Eddo-Lodge states that “when we live in the age of colour blindness and fool ourselves with the lie of meritocracy, some will have to be silent in order for others to thrive.” 

Eddo-lodge is a remarkable writer and a brave female author. Genuinely inspiring and absolutely what I look for in literature. This should be mandatory reading for young adults in secondary schools across Britain. Not only is it a Black person's perspective on race, but it is also a woman's perspective. Although more black voices overall need to be heard, it is an excellent and insightful start, not only highlighting how difficult the conversation about race can be for black and brown people; it is interesting, informative, and a vital read.

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