From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race

Reni Eddo-Lodge

Start date: September 26, 2021

Finish date: October 3, 2021

Discussion: 2021 Read Harder Challenge

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2021 Read Harder Challenge

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* 2021 Read Harder Challenge
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last updated Dec 04, 2020 12:08PM

Task 21: Read a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability
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What Members Thought

Aug 22, 2018 Rebecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub-read, conversations-on-race-class

This book was selected for our Conversations on Race Sunday School class back in May, and I finally finished reading it. There is so much profound wisdom as well as important historical information here, especially about racism in the UK. It can be a little daunting to read with the many political and pop culture UK references, and so in that sense I might recommend When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir or I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness for an A This book was selected for our Conversations on Race Sunday School class back in May, and I finally finished reading it. There is so much profound wisdom as well as important historical information here, especially about racism in the UK. It can be a little daunting to read with the many political and pop culture UK references, and so in that sense I might recommend When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir or I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness for an American reader just starting out on their journey in learning about the continued current existence of structural racism. However, I have always been a believer that the experience of being a cultural minority is a powerful one, and I certainly had that feeling as I read this book, not only as a white person (which is the point of the book), but also as an American.

Two of the best quotes:

On Why Not to Say "I don't see color"
"Not seeing race does little to deconstruct racist structures or materially improve the conditions which people of colour are subject to daily. In order to dismantle unjust, racist structures, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is disproportionately impacted by negative stereotypes about their race, and to who power and privilege is bestowed upon – earned or not – because of their race, their class, and their gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system."

On White Privilege
"It’s so difficult to describe an absence. And white privilege is an absence of the negative consequences of racism. An absence of structural discrimination, an absence of your race being viewed as a problem first and foremost, an absence of ‘less likely to succeed because of my race’. It is an absence of funny looks directed at you because you’re believed to be in the wrong place, an absence of cultural expectations, an absence of violence enacted on your ancestors because of the colour of their skin, an absence of a lifetime of subtle marginalisation and othering – exclusion from the narrative of being human." ...more

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Sep 29, 2025 Teresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: inclusive-2025

This book is a good introduction to structural racism with a focus on the UK. Although I'm already familiar with a lot of the concepts the book discusses, it was interesting to look at these issues through the lens of the British. While I had hoped to actually get even more of the British history than was included, the interview with Nick Griffin was, uh, wow. Something else. Overall, probably more helpful for those new to this topic, but I appreciated her take on it. ...more

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