So You Want to Talk About Race Discussion Questions  

How is racism defined in So You Want to Talk About Race?

According to Ijeoma Oluo, racism is “any prejudice against someone because of their race, when those views are reinforced by systems of power.” She chooses this definition over one that only addresses racism as prejudice against a person because of race, because she finds it is more useful in discussions about how racism does harm to people in society. This is because the harm done to people of color as a result of racism is not only because there are people in society who have a bias or prejudice against people of color. The harm comes from the way a whole society’s systems—law enforcement, political, educational, and other systems—have been constructed on the foundation of that prejudice and how these systems now reinforce and uphold it in ways that oppress people of color. So in discussion about racial justice, Oluo says, it is not useful to talk about racial prejudice without talking about systems that harm, oppress, and prove fatal to Black and brown people. Hurt feelings as a result of individual racial bias are not the problem, she argues. The school-to-prison pipeline, police brutality against Black and Indigenous people, and extreme wealth inequality are the problems caused by racism. They are not caused by simple racial prejudice but by a racial prejudice that results in systems that keep white people in power at the expense of people of color. The power dynamic is essential to understanding and defining racism.

What is intersectionality?

In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo defines intersectionality as the idea that effective social justice efforts “must consider all of the intersections of identity, privilege, and oppression that people face.” Oluo discusses intersectionality from two vantage points: One is by looking at the history of the term, which was coined in 1989 by activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, who used it to examine the ways that race and gender combine to affect Black women and other women of color in unique ways. A second vantage point is more personal: Oluo speaks as a Black person, a woman, and a queer person. These three identities (among others) exist in one individual, and the combination, or intersection, of each part of her identity’s unique set of oppressions and challenges creates a unique experience that is not the same as that of, say, a Black queer man or a white queer woman or a Black straight woman. Oluo believes that social justice efforts aren’t just strengthened by taking an intersectional view; such a view is indispensable to any effort for true justice. Social justice is more effective if it considers the ways that racial injustice intersects with injustices based on class, ability, gender, and sexuality.

What is systemic racism?

Ijeoma Oluo defines racism as “any prejudice against someone because of their race, when those views are reinforced by systems of power.” But there is another step to take: discussing how racism is reinforced by systems of power. That’s where the discussion moves to one about systemic racism—a machine built on the exploitation of Black people for free labor through a system of enslavement that was part of the foundation of the United States and honed over the years by Jim Crow laws, racist policing and court systems, and a whole host of laws that privilege white people and assume Black people are dangerous and a threat to society. 

Oluo says the machine of systemic racism is so well built and developed that it “runs whether we pull the levers or not”—that is, if people do nothing, it continues. It is not about personal feelings of like or dislike for persons of a different race. Systemic racism is racism that is built into laws, policies, educational methods, and hiring processes. The school-to-prison pipeline is one example of how systemic racism works. Black students are stereotyped as more dangerous and disruptive, and as a result, they are more likely to be suspended and expelled. They are also more likely to be referred to law enforcement and charged with crimes than their white peers are for the same offenses. If convicted, Black people are more likely to be incarcerated than white people for the same crimes. In every part of this complex system, Oluo writes, you can see the effects of the racist stereotype that Black people are more dangerous, and the system amplifies the effect in a way that causes real, terrible harm to an entire group of people.

What are microaggressions?

Ijeoma Oluo explains that microaggressions are small (micro-) “indignities perpetrated against marginalized or oppressed people” because they are part of a particular oppressed or marginalized group. They are often comments that point out a person’s physical difference from the typical traits of the dominant racial group, such as facial features, hair texture, or body shape. They can be comments that involve the application of a racial stereotype to a person, such as comments about a Black girl being “loud.” Sometimes they are comments that express how a person is different than a negative stereotype of their race, implying that they are the exception. Sometimes they are disguised as compliments, like saying someone is exotic-looking. Sometimes they are behaviors, like a white woman holding her purse tighter when a Black man walks by or touching a Black woman’s hair without permission. Microaggressions typically make the person feel isolated, othered, and anxious. No individual microaggression seems very hurtful—making them difficult to call out—but taken as a whole over a person’s lifetime, they add up to real harm. They cause anxiety and depressive disorders, normalize racism, and ultimately dehumanize people of color as they serve to uphold the system of white supremacy.

According to Ijeoma Oulo in So You Want to Talk About Race, what role do white people have in combatting racism?

White people who want to combat racism are a large part of Ijeoma Oluo’s intended audience for So You Want to Talk About Race. Since talking about race is the topic of the book, the book prioritizes suggestions for talking constructively about race and provides ways white people can engage in these conversations about race without doing harm. Her suggestions for these discussions are numerous but often involve active listening, self-reflection, not becoming defensive or centering the white experience, and accepting that these discussions will include failure and discomfort. Oluo says white people need to understand that their feelings and comfort are not more important than the lives of Black people because the stakes for people of color are very high. Combating racism isn’t just something people of color think would be cool—it is a life-or-death imperative. A thorough understanding of the difficult task at hand and the stakes is the first step for white people who want to combat racism.

From there, Oluo describes several actions white people can take, including supporting organizations, politicians, and businesses that are working for equality and that provide economic, social, and political resources for communities of color; joining boycotts; voting for people of color; and voicing concerns about inequities in schools. Most of all, she recommends that white people examine their own privilege and find where their “privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression.” That’s where the opportunities for change are. She uses the example of a parent who has the flexibility to go to a parent meeting at school during the day and uses that privilege to ask for different meeting times or other ways parents who must work during the day could get involved. These kinds of actions may seem small, but they can have a greater cumulative effect in the effort to dismantle racist systems.