Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

by Reni Eddo-Lodge

The journey towards understanding structural racism still requires people of colour to prioritise white feelings.

We tell ourselves that racism is about moral values, when instead it is about the survival strategy of systemic power.

This is the difference between racism and prejudice. There is an unattributed definition of racism that defines it as prejudice plus power.

Racism does not go both ways. There are unique forms of discrimination that are backed up by entitlement, assertion and, most importantly, supported by a structural power strong enough to scare you into complying with the demands of the status quo. We have to recognise this.

‘Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.’

White people are so used to seeing a reflection of themselves in all representations of humanity at all times, that they only notice it when it’s taken away from them.

The perverse thing about our current racial structure is that it has always fallen on the shoulders of those at the bottom to change it. Yet racism is a white problem. It reveals the anxieties, hypocrisies and double standards of whiteness. It is a problem in the psyche of whiteness that white people must take responsibility to solve. You can only do so much from the outside.