Flagrant Racism Posing as Social Justice

I was recommended this book by a great Nigerian friend I’ve know since I was 16. Given nature of the title, I was ambivalent but decided to give it a go all the same. I did my best to engage the book in good faith, giving the author credit when she made good points, and not strawmanning those with which I disagreed (however strongly).

Here is the crux of my problem with this book. Eddo-Lodge frames her argument in such a way that it’s impossible for a “white” person to have an honest disagreement with any of her premises without reinforcing them, i.e. “See? You just don’t get it because you’re white. You just proved my point”. It’s the intellectual equivalent of “You’re in denial”, “Why are you so defensive?”, or “You always want to have the last word” (or even the classic last resort that Christian fundamentalists use when confronted with a good faith argument, “That’s exactly what Satan would say”). In other words, if there is no possible good faith retort that wouldn’t reinforce the very point of contention in the eyes of the other person (e.g. “I’m not in denial”, “I’m not defensive”, “I don’t always want to have the last word” etc.) you have rendered your inoculated your argument against criticism. This is the sign of a bad argument, not a good one.

Incidentally, I’m Hispanic, I have lived in three continents, have belonged to both the majority and the minority group for years at a stretch, and as the latter have experienced prejudice, profiling, and discrimination, as well as immense privilege, and whether I’m “white” depends on who you ask, where and when. The fact that my life story doesn’t fit neatly into Eddo-Lodge’s essentialist picture of “white” people gives me a different perspective on many of the issues she raises, and no doubt some of my disagreements (but also some agreements) are born out of that. However, my gripe with the the book is deeper than that the sum of my experiences.

In analytic philosophy you’re taught to detect both the explicit premises stated in an argument and the tacit premises that underpin them. The latter are the unstated assumptions that would have to be true in order for the explicit premises to make sense. Generally, the more assumptions there are, the more vulnerable the argument is. Eddo-Lodge’d book is laden with such assumptions, generalisations, and rather embarrassingly for a supposed anti-racism activist, essentialist claims about race.

This is not to say that there isn’t also some sharp analysis of the issue of racism in modern Britain, but it’s undermined rather than strengthened by her style of argument, which is a shame given the real need to address racism across multiple levels of society.

I’m frustrated by a glaring contradiction in her book that she seems to be oblivious to. This is, on the one hand, the notion presented in her last chapter that the conversation about race will be necessarily messy and uncomfortable, and that we should overcome that in order to address racism. Yet, on the other hand, she tells readers only talk to people who already agree with them about these issues, and confirms this in her own experience of breaking out of white feminist circles simply because of their disagreements with her. In others words, we are at once implored to have a “messy conversation” while seeking out and remaining inside echo chambers, avoiding confrontation with opposing view points. The whole point of a messy conversation is that, by nature, there will be uncomfortable disagreements, and you should be prepared to face them, not run away because you “can’t be bothered with white people”.

The climax of this diatribe is in equal parts depressing as it is dangerous. Don’t seek unity, she says. Power must be taken by force, and there is no end in sight to the struggle, so don’t bother asking me about what my goal is. Doing so, according to her, will only confirm her suspicions that you are not a genuine advocate of progress but instead would rather just put a lid on the whole racism thing and continue to sweep it under the rug. This type of rhetoric has echoes of the Communist Manifesto, and has more in common with a Malcom X than with Martin Luther King (the latter’s call to judge people by the content of their character rather than by the colour of their skin derided early on in the book).

Her worldview, seemingly born out of Marxist conflict theory, is not just incompatible with dialogue, but positively hostile to it. In her eyes, the liberals flying the flag of Martin Luther King are more dangerous to her movement than the BNP because while the former are a stifling and insidious form of opposition, at least you know where you stand with the latter.

When this is the style of argument invoked, there is no possible disagreement that could be seen as being in good faith. Every bad argument I protest against is merely a confirmation of her original view. Forget the fact that black intellectual heavyweights such as Glenn Loury, Thomas Sowell and Coleman Hughes also disagree with her views vehemently.

Despite occasional citings of research, this is not a scholarly book. It is a political manifesto written by an activist. The lazy argumentation, strawmanning of opposing views and outright calls for echo chambers that reinforce
– rather than challenge – confirmation bias demonstrates this. If you’re looking for sharp political theory, this is the wrong book. Anyone from Russeau to Rawls or Nozick would be more appropriate. If what you’re after is the writings of a radical political activist á la Owen Jones, you’re in the right place.

With that said, and in spite of the low rating (mostly due to quality rather than content) I still recommend people read it. The reason is that it’s important to familiarise oneself with this style of argument, particularly as it gains prevalence in schools, universities, the media, and increasingly, mainstream society (particularly on the Left). If you can borrow the book from someone, do so. If your only choice is to purchase it, I still begrudgingly recommend you do it.

Next I plan to read “Brit(ish)” by Afua Hirsch, which deals with similar issues but which (given what I’ve seen of her on TV) I hope will be more carefully argued.

102 of 116 people found this review helpful

A difficult read for an older white woman

I've just finished listening to this audio-book. My daughter recently went out for a while with a young black African man, and so I thought I should be better informed on current politics (being nearly 60 years old myself). I went through a range of emotions as I listened - from empathy, to resistance and anger, to realisation that I was feeling threatened because of my white privilege, exactly as the writer described. So for me this has been a very uncomfortable and challenging read, but one which has immeasurably widened and deepened my understanding of current race and gender politics and of the importance of intersectionism (not sure I got the terminology right there...). The areas covered and the structure of the book seemed to me to be highly relevant. Not sure what I'm going to do about it yet, but the last chapter was useful in this regard. and I'll discuss it with my (all white and female) book group tomorrow.

37 of 44 people found this review helpful

It's certainly interesting...

Any additional comments?

What I can say is that this book was certainly interesting to listen to. Ms. Eddo-Lodge begins by detailing Britain's involvement in the black slavery of the past; a period that I have been meaning to learn more about, and she provides a good introduction that has convinced me to learn more. I was surprised, though, to find that the British blockade of western Africa was left out, which I thought was a shame. As the chapters continue, she covers such topics as police brutality and white privilege in occupations, education, and the law; topics which are also covered by writers such as Malcolm Gladwell in his book, "Blink". Unlike Malcolm Gladwell, however, she does not give any suggestion of potential solutions. There is only one reference to this, in the last chapter, where she claims that we are so far away from the solution that there is no point in discussing what could prove racism's final death... Personally, I look forward to names being removed from job and university applications, to account for any gender and race biases... I much prefer when a writer, who identifies a problem, will then suggest ways to rectify it. Ms. Eddo-Lodge does not do this, which unfortunately, is a little reminiscent of those who make there money by identifying these injustices; the permanent removal of which would not necessarily be in their best interests...Overall, the book was interesting, and her reading of it was easy to listen to, despite some intentional mispronunciations of words, which I didn't really understand the purpose of. It should keep your interest even if you do not agree with the things that she is saying, and I would certainly suggest it for anyone. As is suggested by the very title, it seems that Ms. Eddo-Lodge is under the impression that white people either won't or can't understand what it is to be black, and so it would be interesting to see her in a debate with individuals such as Candace Owens, Larry Elder, or Tommy Sotomayor. Appreciatively, they are Americans and so will have had different experiences, but still...

21 of 28 people found this review helpful

Good

This was so close to being a great book, but being only 250 pages it just lacked depth. Reni discussed many different areas, but some of them were rushed, with little explanation and statistical analysis (ie the tiny football / Rooney Rule section). Sometimes she made references as if we all knew what she meant, there were parts which were unclear because of a lack of definition and so on. But I did learn quite a bit, there were many parts of black history that I didn't know or think about, and this is the first book of its kind that I've read so I found it informative.

Maybe she was rushed, but I just wish she would revise and re-release it to add way more depth. 7/10.

10 of 14 people found this review helpful

Frighteningly eye-opening.

Frighteningly eye-opening. Everybody who has never particularly had to consider their race, or who believes, as I did, that the UK had sorted out the problems with race decades earlier than America should listen to this.

12 of 20 people found this review helpful

Empowering

In contradiction with the title, this book doesn't seek to abuse and degrade white people in their ignorance of their privilege. On the contrary it is deeply educational on the universality of white power and empowering in the belief that everyone, including white people can do something to end racism. Eddo-Lodge's style and delivery is direct, sincere, passionate and assertive and, unlike so much racial "discussion" in the media she aims to open up the discussion to everyone. I found this book eye-opening and profoundly moving.

9 of 15 people found this review helpful

Absolutely brilliant!!!

Eddo-Lodge finally articulates the black british experience in a way that has never been done before. She perfectly encapsulates the difficulties of talking about race to white people that every person of colour immediately recognises. This is such an important book and gives us all the language to identify and break down structural racism. EVERYONE should read this book.

18 of 31 people found this review helpful

Fantastic.... Well voiced

This book has voiced a lot of what we as black people have been going through and are still going through. It is well worth the read and i recommend to any conscious black person.

Everyone should read this book and learn

Everyone must read this book and learn, thank you to the author for writing it

An eye opening look at the country we live in

Reni argues strongly and clearly that racism is very much a contemporary problem in the UK. She is eloquent and interesting.
The overall message is depressing but knowledge is a dangerous thing.