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

Chapter 7 is a call to action. British society has not entered a post-racial era. Change is happening, but it has been slow and incremental. Gaps in communication have hindered progress. When Black people discuss race, white people shift the conversation to take the focus away from their complicity. They do not engage with the issues, but instead complain about Black identity politics and the social divisiveness it ostensibly creates. As Eddo-Lodge notes, however, racism is about white identity, not Black identity: “It’s about white anxiety. It’s about asking why whiteness has this reflexive need to define itself against immigrant bogey monsters in order to feel comfortable, safe and secure” (215).

The burden of fighting racism has been placed on people of color, yet racism is a white problem that can only be solved if white people also work to dismantle it. Wallowing in guilt is unproductive. Instead, white people should act to combat racism. These acts might include financially supporting organizations that fight racism, intervening during racist incidents, and discussing race with other white people. Eddo-Lodge writes about racism because it helps those impacted by the problem not because it changes consensus. She urges white readers to get angry and to channel their anger into anti-racism work.