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shelfexplanatory's review against another edition
4.0
A good primer for people who have had little to no experience with racism. This very much feels like a 101 course in thinking about and discussing race, which makes it a great resource to share with white friends and family.
Oluo introduces topics such as affirmative action, police brutality, and the school to prison pipeline (to name a few). Her narrative voice is frank, but still approachable and easy to understand.
However, this book is still just an introduction. It is up to the reader to take the roadmap map that Oluo provides and delve deeper into these topics with further reading.
Oluo introduces topics such as affirmative action, police brutality, and the school to prison pipeline (to name a few). Her narrative voice is frank, but still approachable and easy to understand.
However, this book is still just an introduction. It is up to the reader to take the roadmap map that Oluo provides and delve deeper into these topics with further reading.
valrie_m's review
4.0
As a white woman I can tell you I didn’t enjoy reading this book but enjoyment wasn’t the intention here. A must-read.
tophat8855's review
5.0
I listened via Hoopla but the Oakland Public Library also has unlimited copies available as an audiobook to check out if you don't want to use your Hoopla credits.
As a book, this is approachable and she is good at explaining most of the academic-sounding terms surrounding race. She also tries to be inclusive of racism- that while in America it seems very white supremacy vs. Black people, it's also white supremacy vs. Native people, Asian people, Latinx people, Middle Eastern people, etc. And she also describes how white supremacy hurts white people too.
This was full of very good reminders and I'd do well (we all would) to return to this book regularly and re-examine my thoughts and actions.
As a book, this is approachable and she is good at explaining most of the academic-sounding terms surrounding race. She also tries to be inclusive of racism- that while in America it seems very white supremacy vs. Black people, it's also white supremacy vs. Native people, Asian people, Latinx people, Middle Eastern people, etc. And she also describes how white supremacy hurts white people too.
This was full of very good reminders and I'd do well (we all would) to return to this book regularly and re-examine my thoughts and actions.
wanderingmole's review
5.0
First I started listening to the audiobook. The narration was excellent, but I wanted it to slow right down so that I could absorb everything. So I checked the hard copy out the library. But I wanted to underline and make notes in a lot of the book. So I had to order myself my own copy.
This is a clear and direct guide to better understanding, discussing and agitating on issues of race. And even if you don’t agree with the author at every step immediately, it will have you thinking long and hard. My best learnings came from chapter 1 “Is it really about race?”, and the discussions of intention vs impact and tone policing.
This is a clear and direct guide to better understanding, discussing and agitating on issues of race. And even if you don’t agree with the author at every step immediately, it will have you thinking long and hard. My best learnings came from chapter 1 “Is it really about race?”, and the discussions of intention vs impact and tone policing.
qnawal97's review
5.0
Very relevant book, I love how each chapter is issue-oriented and also solution-oriented as well as gives you ways and methods to not only reevaluate your own intentions and reflect but give you ways to address others or bring up points to others in conversations about race and racism. I also like the anecdotes and narrative style that was paired with the how-to, guidebook style writing.
katnortonwriter's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
gkelch's review
5.0
Incredibly informative- I'd recommend to anyone looking to learn more about how white people continue to benefit from systems that harm black people and the myriad ways systemic racism manifests in our society, and to those seeking straightforward explanations of concepts and terminology that impact our conversations and understanding of race.
sunrays118's review against another edition
5.0
This book is phenomenal. I cannot say enough about it. I think everyone should read this. It is written in a way that is active and engaging no matter where you are. It certainly calls me in several times. The writing is outstanding, it asks great questions, it is incredible.
kvreadsandrecs's review
5.0
This was so digestible. I don’t know if it’s because it’s based in Seattle or if it’s because I’m about to launch into a unit on police brutality, but everything about this book felt accessible. The chapter titles are helpful guides and literally spelling out rules and guidelines for various conversations is enormously helpful as I try to have conversations about race with middle schoolers.
ponch22's review against another edition
5.0
Picked this up because as a cis white male who knows he's benefited from privilege and wants to do better, it's important to listen to Black (female) voices on how to fix our broken society.
[a:Ijeoma Oluo|14408819|Ijeoma Oluo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591962050p2/14408819.jpg] has written an excellent guidebook on how to talk about race, explaining (in very simple terms) what privilege is, what intersectionality is, how microagressions can pile up on BIPOC, what the school-to-prison pipeline is, and much much more. Several chapters have specific sections directed to white people trying to learn how to be better with other sections directed to POC to validate their feelings & give them permission to be angry (when applicable).
The book finishes with a few chapters on what to do, giving several bullet points offering places to fight systematic racism and instructions on how to be an ally. I often read this in bed but it feels like a book that deserves to be highlighted and annotated. There were a lot of great lessons that will never grow old (unless of course, we as a society can figure out how to completely destroy systematic racism) & I feel like I may be returning to this with pencil in hand to take notes and highlight important sections.
For now, I'll just leave this important quote from chapter 1, "Is It Really About Race?"
[a:Ijeoma Oluo|14408819|Ijeoma Oluo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591962050p2/14408819.jpg] has written an excellent guidebook on how to talk about race, explaining (in very simple terms) what privilege is, what intersectionality is, how microagressions can pile up on BIPOC, what the school-to-prison pipeline is, and much much more. Several chapters have specific sections directed to white people trying to learn how to be better with other sections directed to POC to validate their feelings & give them permission to be angry (when applicable).
The book finishes with a few chapters on what to do, giving several bullet points offering places to fight systematic racism and instructions on how to be an ally. I often read this in bed but it feels like a book that deserves to be highlighted and annotated. There were a lot of great lessons that will never grow old (unless of course, we as a society can figure out how to completely destroy systematic racism) & I feel like I may be returning to this with pencil in hand to take notes and highlight important sections.
For now, I'll just leave this important quote from chapter 1, "Is It Really About Race?"
1. It is about race if a person of color thinks it is about race.
2. It is about race if it disproportionately or differently affects people of color.
3. It is about race if it fits into a broader pattern of events that disproportionately or differently affect people of color.