Why Im No Longer Talking to White People About Race : Eddo-Lodge, Reni By Reni EDDO-LODGE

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I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title. I hadn’t heard of the author and, logically speaking, a book with such a title could have been written by someone of any ethnicity. Yet I just knew, even before the book dropped through my letterbox, that the writer would be black.So why has Ms. Eddo Lodge stopped ‘talking to white people about race’? Essentially because she doesn’t like the way white people respond – even her friends. She can’t understand why ‘their eyes glaze over in boredom or widen in indignation’, why they just don’t ‘get it’. She tells us:‘I can’t continue to emotionally exhaust myself trying to get my message across, while also toeing a very precarious line that tries not to implicate any one white person in their role in perpetuating structural racism, lest they character assassinate me.’Poor thing. Heaven forbid that someone might take exception to being told that because they are white they are racist, or that they might ‘character assassinate’ her by having the gall to question her characterization of them.It comes as no surprise to discover what she thinks is the source of the ‘structural racism’ that supposedly plagues Britain today – in a word, slavery. She concedes that prior to studying black history in her second year at university her knowledge of history was lacking. It shows. Her take on things is basic and highly selective. There is no mention of slavery being commonplace in Africa long before any European involvement and only a hint of the key part African blacks played in the slave trade. There is only grudging acknowledgement of the important role that Britain played (and continues to play) in abolishing slavery. But what is most lacking is any sense of historical context. It is as though she thinks that the average white person’s ancestors lived in the lap of luxury on the ‘white wealth amassed from the profits of slavery’, when if she knew anything about history she would know that even in the latter part of the period in question, those ancestors – including those of her white friends – were likely to have lived in abject poverty, one step away from the workhouse, their children routinely sent down mines or up chimneys. Against this background her comments about ‘profits from slavery seeping into the fabric of British society’ are profoundly disingenuous – merely a way of unjustifiably allotting blame hundreds of years after the fact on the basis of nothing other than skin colour. The simple fact is that Eddo Lodge’s white friends should no feel ‘embarrassed’ by slavery than she should be embarrassed by the involvement of her own antecedents in cannibalism, human sacrifice, or indeed slavery.The supposed ‘historical’ analysis jumps from slavery to a string of examples of racism in 20th century Britain, with no connection other than the ongoing assumption that white people are racist. In the ensuing chapters there are the usual tropes about institutional racism, white privilege, a digression into feminism another of the author’s gripes – and social class. But there is nothing new or original – not one thing just a succession of selective anecdotes and personal hang ups. There is certainly no serious sociological or political analysis, and as polemic we’ve heard it all before.In trotting out the usual well worn grievances Eddo Lodge simply repeats the same logical mistakes. Her text is littered with examples of erroneous thinking. For example, according to her reasoning, because a) most privileged people are white it follows that b) most white people are privileged. This is equivalent to saying that because a) most kings are human beings, then b) most human beings are kings. Eddo Lodge is fond of casting aspersions about white people not ‘getting’ her point yet this is evidently something she doesn’t ‘get’. Yes, it is true that in the UK those who are rich and powerful, or who own land or property, or who have the best jobs or the highest salaries, etc., tend to be white. Statistically, this is only to be expected given that the majority of the population is white. And there are clear historical, political and sociological explanations for how these people came to have the advantages they do, explanations which by and large have nothing to do with race. This advantaged group is, by definition, a minority – it is not logically possible for most people to have the best jobs, the highest salaries, etc. Is it unfair that this minority has these privileges? Certainly, in some respects yes. However – and this is the point that Eddo Lodge obviously doesn’t get – to the extent that this state of affairs is unfair, it is just as unfair to the average white person as it is to the average black person.No doubt the reason Eddo Lodge’s white friends ‘eyes glaze over in boredom’ whenever she talks about race is precisely because they have heard it all before. But if Ms. Eddo Lodge wants to know why her friends’ eyes might, as she says, ‘widen in indignation’ I can enlighten her.Like everyone else, Eddo Lodge’s white friends will be aware of the extraordinary lengths the UK has gone to over the past half century or to encourage and accommodate black inclusion. The UK has changed its laws, introduced no end of initiatives and directed considerable public funds to that end. Her friends will also know that the UK has a long history of welcoming immigrants from around the world. In short, there are few if any countries that could be said to be less racist than the UK.One of the visible efforts to increase black inclusion is to be found in the media. Black faces are now everywhere on TV; on the main terrestrial TV channels it would be difficult to find a programme that doesn’t have an overrepresentation of black presenters, reporters, actors, etc., one that is out of all proportion to the relative size of the black community. Anyone who doubts this should try counting the number of TV adverts that don’t have black actors. In its current drive to include black actors in any and every drama the BBC stretches dramatic credibility to the point where it risks ridicule. And note that it is specifically black inclusion that is being accommodated here. Indeed, one could be forgiven for thinking that Black/Black British was the largest minority group in the UK, yet it is less than half the size of the Asian/Asian British population which enjoys nowhere near the same levels of representation in the media.Of course none of this is acknowledged in Eddo Lodge’s conveniently skewed reading of things or in her purposefully selective approach to the facts. And there is something else that her friends will be all too aware of, something that, again, is conspicuously absent from Eddo Lodge’s account. Her white friends will know that whenever the media carries reports of the perpetrators of crime there is a good chance that the faces looking back at them will be black. The fact is that the black community places a disproportionately high burden on the criminal justice system with far higher levels of knife crime, drug dealing and robbery than other sections of the UK population. Black families are likely to be single parent families, and the black community draws disproportionately on social services, on health, education and the benefits system. Of course none of this is about skin colour – being black doesn’t cause someone to commit crime or abandon their own children but it is about attitude, perspective and values.And here we come to the nub of the issue and the essential problem with this book. For however much many in the black community strive to be part of British society, and through their talents and hard work make a valuable and important contribution to society, there remains a sizable and unduly vocal minority who are intent on portraying themselves as victims, as continually hard done by. They find fault and take exception to anything and everything, automatically characterizing any and every situation or circumstance as a consequence of being black – an attitude so prevalent that it is now frequently caricatured by comedians with the expression: ‘It’s coz I is black innit’. It is precisely this undercurrent of self pitying, sniping resentment that informs this book, a book that is unashamedly prejudiced and intolerant. I was safe in assuming that its author would be black – not, for example, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Chinese – because even the very title betrays this selfsame characteristic attitude of ungracious, caustic negativity. We do indeed have a problem with racism in the UK and this ill informed and unfortunate book serves to illustrate the problem – but not in the way the author thinks. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Its an amazing book. I really enjoy read this book. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race I bought this book after a recommendation from a friend. It is easy to read and covered many points that are being addressed and still need work however I was ultimately confused by how the author would help this process by writing in such a way. The overall impression of the book is that it was written to support a conclusion was there at the beginning (almost certainly true as it was basically an extension of a blog written years earlier) and that despite wanting to be seen as the serious work of an academic it lacks balance, uses statistics lazily, and most importantly doesn't take into account how human beings of all races think and act. It left me thinking that the reason she didn't speak to white people any about race was because she only wanted to speak to people who agreed her.No one today would defend the slave trade however no mention is made that it wasn't a white only activity, she claims that information about the issue is not easily available as if there is some type of conspiracy to keep it a secret but I didn't read anything new in her book. She doesn't mention the African pirates that plundered northern European countries in the 17th century, taking an estimated 35,000 slaves from the UK alone. You can't argue about the numbers or in any way try to take away the despicable actions of white slavers an historical and human perspective helps when viewing it from a 21st century perspective.Some examples of her sloppy use of statistics are: She negatively points out in one chapter that 70% of university professors are white and in another chapter agrees with Nick Griffin that 81% of the people in the UK were white. The first prove that black people weren't given the same opportunities in universities and the second to prove that white people were the majority in the UK. This second point added fuel to another assertion that you can only be racist if you were the majority race and/or had power. Black people, in her opinion, can never be racist in the UK.She talks about the number of black children waiting for adoption compared to white children, another sign of racism. Any serious investigator would be interested in look a bit further, e.g. Is the percentage of black children needing adoption higher than other races?, Is the rate of single mothers higher? Are black people less likely to adopt than white people? Do white shy away from adopting black children and if so why? You can't just use statistics to prove your point without a full understanding of what the statistic actually means.She also discusses a London borough where the percentage of very poor people is very high and the majority of them are black. What she doesn't do is look a bit deeper and ask about percentages that relate to recent immigrants vs established ones. I don't know the answer but it would help to understand the underlying issues which may or may not have anything to do with colour.There were many other weaknesses, opinions of someone she has spoken to are presented facts, she is happy to blame racism for all sorts of actions, one being the recent attempt by the NHS to recover money from health tourists. Most people in the UK supported this action but it was racist asking to see passports apparently. Lastly she doesn't really recognise the changes that we have seen in society over the last few decades, it may not be perfect (it never will be) but a balanced view always helps Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Great to take notes of one's priviledge Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Petit cadeau pour ma fille, sujet plus que d'actualité surtout dans notre société où la normalité n'est pas la même pour tout le monde.Produit conforme à la description et livraison rapide. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

Reni Eddo Lodge courageously refers to the past in order to clearly analyse the present race relations. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race En cours de lecture, livre très intéressant. J'ai été intriguée après avoir lu l'article dont est parti l'écriture du livre. Il y a un podcast qui est sorti par la même occasion. Je le conseille vivement Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Powerful and beautifully written.Whether you read her blog post or not, I highly recommend reading the book. It resonates. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Je pense que si on est blanc et qu'on veut en savoir plus sur le racisme sous ses différentes formes, en particulier le racisme institutionnel, ce livre est véritablement incontournable. L'auteure expose les faits, nous montre que la blanchitude est la notion par Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Livre écrit par une journaliste anglaise. Bonne capacité d'analyse. Elle met le doigt sur certains aspects du racisme qui valent le coup d'être entendus. Le combat d'une femme noire qui a du faire face aux préjudices liés à sa couleur de peau et à la vision très Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

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