Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017), is an essential examination of racism in the UK. Its relevance is accentuated in the spirit of the recent Black Lives Matter protests, with Reni becoming the first black British author to top the UK non-fiction paperback book chart. With its provocative title, the book presents Reni’s frustration with the way that race is discussed. She urges white readers to acknowledge the systematic problem that is at the heart of race relations.
Within the six chapters of her book, the award winning journalist confronts the complexities of racism:
1- History of Racism
Reni begins her chapter with Britain’s history of slavery. Studying a university module on Britain’s colonial history and slave trade prompted her to think about the country’s history of racism. It is tempting to believe that this ugly part of Britain’s history is far behind us, but Reni points out that
‘slavery as a British institution existed for much longer than it has currently been abolished-over 270 years’ (3).
The Abolition of Slavery Act was introduced in 1833, which is less than 200 years ago.
Reni goes on to talk about eradicated black history, such as the contribution of people of colour in WW1 and the government’s encouragement of immigration from the Caribbean in order to meet labour demands after WW2. She discusses the 1970’s public panic of mugging and the introduction of stop and search in 1984. She also details police harassment towards people of colour and of horrific crimes that were ignited by racial hatred.
2- Systematic Racism
Reni defines structural racism as the collective bias of ‘hundreds, or thousands of people…joining together to make up one organisation’ (64). She examines the effects of this bias by plotting out the life of a black man. Reni argues that as a black student, he is ‘less likely to be accepted into a high-ranking, research intensive Russell group university’ than his ‘white counterparts’ (67). Once he graduates, name based discrimination will work against him getting employed.
She considers the way that institutions combat systematic racism using racial quotas, and she examines the criticism and apprehension that meets this measure. She argues that the UK’s meritocracy is an imperfect system that ‘distorts equal opportunity’ as a consequence of Britain’s ‘relationship with race’ (81).
Also, she criticises the notion of colour blindness as she argues that it is essential to see race in order to deconstruct racial structures. By acknowledging race, we can see who benefits from meritocracy and who is impacted by negative stereotypes due to the colour of their skin.
3- White Privilege
In a white society, Reni agues that ‘neutral is white, the default is white..blackness however, is considered the “other,” and therefore to be suspected’ (85). A white person benefits from their racial identity as they are privileged not to be the target of racism. Although prejudice towards white people can exist, Reni says it is not racism:
‘there is an unattributed definition of racism that defines it as prejudice plus power’ (89).
4- White Fear
Reni refers to the what she calls, ‘the fear of a black planet.’ This white fear is concerned with the idea that the ‘other’ will take over and dominate. (similar to the world Malorie Blackman sets Noughts and Crosses in) It evokes the aversion towards immigration and multiculturalism- an attitude that is forthrightly adopted by the far right.
The emphasis to preserve national identity is seen in those who were against the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes on Oxford University’s campus. Reni says that rather than aiming to censor Rhodes from British history, the students behind the British Rhodes Must Fall movement were ‘questioning whether he should be so overtly celebrated’ (131). The resemblance of this debate to the one surrounding the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue is uncanny.
5- Black Feminism
Both feminism and anti-racism has helped Reni understand society and the discrimination you face if you are both female and black. She refers to “intersectionality” to define this crossover of ‘two distinct discriminations-racism and sexism’ (156).
Within this chapter, Reni highlights the issues surrounding white feminism and its distaste for intersectionality. She argues that this distaste is derived from a lack of understanding from a white feminist’s point of view.
‘if feminism can understand the patriarchy, it’s important to question why so many feminists struggle to understand whiteness as a political structure in the very same way’ (168)
As a result, Reni says that white feminism cannot be universal if it does not welcome discourse on intersectionality.
6- Race and Class
Reni urges us to rethink the image we have of a working class person. She argues that instead of ‘a white man in a flat cap, it’s a black woman pushing a pram’ (201). Black and minority ethnic people are more likely to live in income poverty than white people in the UK. Reni examines the London house crisis and how it greatly impacts the lives of people of colour.
In the book’s conclusion, Reni delves into ways to help counter racism, such as offering ‘financial, administrative assistance’ and advocating ‘for antiracist causes in all-white spaces’ (219). She stresses that racism is a white problem and therefore, white people must be aware of their own racial identity and how it feeds into systematic racism.
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People is a necessary wake up call and a call to action.