Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

In February 2014, Reni Eddo-Lodge posted an impassioned argument on her blog about her deep-seated frustration with the way discussions of race and racism were constantly being shut down by those who weren’t affected by it. She gave the post the title: “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race.” Her sharp, fiercely intelligent words hit a nerve and the post went viral, spawning a huge number of comments from people desperate to speak up about their own similar experiences.

Galvanized by this response, Eddo-Lodge decided to dive into the source of these feelings; this clear hunger for an open discussion. The result is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary exploration of what it is to be a person of color, covering issues from eradicated black history to white privilege, the fallacy of “meritocracy” to white-washing feminism, and the inextricable link between class and race. Eddo-Lodge locates her discussion in her native United Kingdom, but discusses themes and events that are universal.