Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race - Reni Eddo-Lodge

If you haven't read this yet, you should - this book is pretty important. Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race was moving, eye-opening and harrowing. Eddo-Lodge's prose is emotive passionate, and educational. As a white reader, I am aware that the novel was not necessarily designed for my education or enlightenment. You cannot read the novel and not feel a sense of horror and rage when reading about the levels of injustice both historically and contemporaneously, illustrated through both the personal experiences and extensive knowledge of the author, subjected upon POC in Britain. (I focus on Britain here as the author is British and writing about the issues within British society).

The author claims that the aim of her novel was to "change the national conversation about race". The novel began as a blog post, published in 2014, which received widespread attention and was subsequently elaborated into a novel. Since the book's publication in 2017, Eddo-Lodge feels that "there has been a renaissance of black critical thought and culture" - the novel certainly leaves you feeling hopeful that small but steady changes are continually happening which is opening up a conversation and sparking awareness and conscious feeling. 

It goes without saying that I do not consider myself to be prejudiced, or racist, in any sense of the word - but this itself is one thing which the author aims to highlight. She writes: "when I write about white people in this book, I do not mean every individual white person. I mean whiteness as a political ideology." Many people, myself included, believe that they are exempt from racist behaviours and beliefs because they do not practise them. It is easy to overlook the fact that you have many benefits and privileges afforded to you because you are white, and the author aims to make people aware of the systematic racist network bubbling away under the surface. Eddo-Lodge expertly reveals this both through her personal account of her own experiences, and the experiences of all POC in Britain historically. 

I don't, by any stretch of the imagination, claim to be hyper-educated or aware, or to necessarily always recognise many of the underlying issues still existing in society today - but what I can say, is that reading this novel has brought me that one step closer. It was difficult for me to know exactly what to say in this review, as the topic has become so delicate that my writing can hardly justify the extent of the issues surrounding us. I think that any book which truly challenges you, and encourages you to re-evaluate your behaviour and the behaviour of people around you, is an important book to read. I would truly recommend it.

(On a side note, the cover is fantastic.)