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A review by sandytfrench
Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods by Otegha Uwagba
5.0
Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods by Otegha Uwagba
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars
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This little bite of a book packs one hell of a punch in its 70 pages. Uwagba wanted to record her feelings in the wake of the murder of George Floyd but did not want it to focus on white people, which she found impossible to achieve - how can you discuss institutional racism without discussing whiteness, when whiteness is society's default setting? It was a fascinating essay to read; as a white person, it is an uncomfortable essay to read and so it should be. Uwagba's discourse on allyship is eye-opening and thought-provoking. How white allyship is often a way of alleviating white guilt and that while amplifying black voices and educating oneself on race relations is great, it is not enough. She asks this question, as an example: would you put everything on the line - your job, your financial security, your family's security, the roof over your head - to defend a Black colleague if you knew they were discriminated against by the employer you work for? And this is the mirror Uwagba is holding up to us - that in order to be an effective ally, acknowledging my white privilege is not enough. What is needed is concrete actions to dismantle the systems that - whether I like it or not - I have benefitted from. This has certainly given me food for thought; I haven't stopped thinking about it since I read it and I really want to push it into as many hands as possible.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars
~~~~~
This little bite of a book packs one hell of a punch in its 70 pages. Uwagba wanted to record her feelings in the wake of the murder of George Floyd but did not want it to focus on white people, which she found impossible to achieve - how can you discuss institutional racism without discussing whiteness, when whiteness is society's default setting? It was a fascinating essay to read; as a white person, it is an uncomfortable essay to read and so it should be. Uwagba's discourse on allyship is eye-opening and thought-provoking. How white allyship is often a way of alleviating white guilt and that while amplifying black voices and educating oneself on race relations is great, it is not enough. She asks this question, as an example: would you put everything on the line - your job, your financial security, your family's security, the roof over your head - to defend a Black colleague if you knew they were discriminated against by the employer you work for? And this is the mirror Uwagba is holding up to us - that in order to be an effective ally, acknowledging my white privilege is not enough. What is needed is concrete actions to dismantle the systems that - whether I like it or not - I have benefitted from. This has certainly given me food for thought; I haven't stopped thinking about it since I read it and I really want to push it into as many hands as possible.
~~~~~