So You Want to Talk About Race Major and Minor Quotes

“[Y]ou will get more because they exist to get less.” (Chapter 1)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: Ijeoma Oluo explains that racism is based on a mindset that there are some people whose lives are not just less valuable than others but whose oppression is necessary to ensure those more privileged have access to wealth and comfort. Racism isn’t just an unfortunate thing that happens in society, Oluo says; it is something that is fundamental to the way society currently works. When people of color are excluded from opportunities, others have more access to those opportunities.

A large part of the trouble this idea causes is that while the idea that some people “exist to get less” is definitely negative, the first part of the sentence, “you will get more,” functions as a promise to white people. There is more profit for the privileged when others are locked out of a share of that profit. As a result, Oluo explains, racist ideas endure because they justify the inequality of the system as it now exists. Unfortunately, because white peoples’ security is bound up in this racist system, they are often deeply uncomfortable discussing it. Yet without discussion and then action meant to dismantle the system, nothing will change.

“Something can be about race, and that doesn’t mean that it is only about race.” (Chapter 1)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: Ijeoma Oluo refutes the idea that if something is about class or gender or sexuality, it is no longer about race. The idea that economic issues faced by Black people are more about class than race, for example, might seem attractive to those who feel uncomfortable talking about race and less anxious about discussing class. However, such an approach leaves out a main driver of the economic issues faced by Black people, which is racism. In addition, by bringing up other causes or wanting to focus on other factors, people often avoid discussions about race, and if they ignore it, it will never go away. Accurately defining the problem is part of finding solutions.

So Oluo explains concisely that a problem can have more than one cause. Something can be about race but still also be about class, gender, sexuality, or any number of other factors. Inequality is intersectional: it is caused by a complex web of factors, and for each person, the mix—and therefore the experience—will be a little different. By allowing for this complexity, Oluo suggests, we can have more useful discussions about the way race plays into injustice, and this gives us a better chance to create change for the better.

“Systemic racism is a machine that runs whether we pull the levers or not.” (Chapter 2)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: In this quote, Ijeoma Oluo uses a metaphor to explain why failing to address racism head-on will only perpetuate racism. In this metaphor, systemic racism is a machine that doesn’t need anyone to make it run. It runs all on its own. So if people ignore it, it runs. It can only be stopped if people take action to stop it.

It is important to note that this machine of systemic racism didn’t appear out of nowhere. It was built, little by little, over hundreds of years. In the United States, the construction of the machine began with the system of human enslavement and was added to and refined through a variety of policies and practices, such as Jim Crow laws, racist policing, and the school-to-prison pipeline. But once built, it has continued to hum along, and looking away only allows for grave injustices to remain unaddressed and unchanged. Continuing the metaphor, Oluo says people have to dismantle this machine—take it apart piece by piece—in order to end systemic racism.

“When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.” (Chapter 4)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: Throughout So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo gives practical advice and concrete suggestions for those who would like to participate in efforts to address racism and inequality. Identifying your own privilege might seem, to some, like an introspective exercise, meant to enlighten you to your own blind spots. And it is that. But Oluo says it is also a great way to identify your opportunities, because when you see your own privilege, you can consider where you have privilege others don’t. And then, where those two things intersect, you can make change.

She gives this example: Say you are a parent and have a fairly flexible work schedule. You can take an afternoon off in order to go to a parent meeting at your child’s school. This is an area in which you have a great deal of privilege. You also know that other parents don’t have the ability to take time off work to come to a meeting during the day. This gives you the opportunity to ask for a change in the meeting time or for a way that parents who can’t come to meetings during work hours could still contribute. 

“I’m not capable of cutting away womanhood in order to stand by black men who prey on black women.” (Chapter 5)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: As Ijeoma Oluo discusses intersectionality, she uses this vivid image to make the point that all of her various identities are together in one person. She had been attacked on social media for speaking out against a Black man who was an abuser. Yet, she points out, asking a Black woman not to speak out against a Black man who is an abuser is asking a person to only be one aspect of themselves—to “cut away” an essential part of who they are.

This is true for all of us, and it is why understanding intersectionality is so important. Each person is a unique combination of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and background. People must be able to see themselves and others as full, complex human beings—not flat characters who fall easily into only one category. When people do this, Oluo says, they can make room in their discussions for all sorts of unique perspectives, instead of pretending that all Black people or all women ought to have the same perspective.

“When an officer shoots an unarmed black man and says he feared for his life, I believe it. But that fear itself is often racist and unfounded.” (Chapter 6)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: In this quote, Ijeoma Oluo points out the dangerous effect of racist stereotypes on policing. Police have a job that can be dangerous, and in recognition of this they are often excused for a violent response if they can say they were afraid for their life. If they were genuinely afraid for their life, then harming and even killing someone can be perceived as a justified defensive action. 

The trouble with this, Oluo explains, is that the justification for doing harm comes down to the police officer’s emotional response. And what if that emotional response is “racist and unfounded”? What if it is, for example, based on the racist stereotype of a dangerous Black man, perhaps compounded by the racist tendency to perceive young Black boys and teens as adults rather than as children? This is the way racist ideas become lethal for Black people. Unfortunately, Oluo says, the focus in these situations is often on the police officer’s fear, not on the racist foundation of that fear. So it is not only important that police have proper training and accountability but also that people identify and expose racist stereotypes, see where and how they are being perpetuated and supported, and then work to counteract and undo them.

“The history of a word matters as long as the effects of that history are still felt.” (Chapter 9)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: This quote refers to the use of the “n-word” and is a reminder that not only do words have power, but the power of words also comes from how they have been used. Ijeoma Oluo traces this term to its first uses as a way to demean enslaved people. Its history is as a word that expresses hatred and contempt. And despite the gains US society has made toward equal rights, people of color in the United States still feel the effects of its racist beginnings. The system is still a white supremacist system. Therefore, the history of the “n-word” still matters; coming from a white person’s lips it is still going to sound like an expression of hatred and contempt. Oluo asserts that it will most likely be “past all of our lifetimes” before white people can use this term without doing harm to Black people.

Oluo also makes it clear that because the power of a word is from its history of use, the term doesn’t inflict the same harm when used by a Black person. Therefore, she says, it is acceptable for Black people to use the word, and the fact that they do so should in no way make white people feel more comfortable using it.

“Our kids are fighting for a world more just and more righteous than we had ever dared to dream of.” (Chapter 13)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo discusses why it may seem to some people that students are “so angry.” She describes an experience involving her son, in which he decided he did not want to say the Pledge of Allegiance because, among other reasons, the “‘liberty and justice for all’ part is a lie.” He’d looked at the way society treats people of color, and he’d decided “liberty and justice for all” was a lie.

This experience made her consider the difference between her own childhood perception of racism and her son’s. She had had a very different and more optimistic perspective—believing that the worst forms of racism were on their way out and a more hopeful future of racial equality was within reach. However, in retrospect these rosy dreams never quite came to pass. Her son and his peers—growing up in a society with police brutality against Black people, high rates of incarceration for Black men, and increasing income and wealth inequality between white people and people of color—don’t have as optimistic of a view, she says. They are ready for real change. They are fighting for real change. They want real justice for people of color, LGBTQ people, women, people with disabilities, and every intersection of these identities. They want, she observes, a world that is “more just and righteous” than previous generations of activists could even imagine. To older adults, the world today’s students are fighting for may seem radical, but it is up to them to make their future. They are, after all, the ones who will live in that future. And if it is more just and righteous than the one their parents and grandparents hoped for, all the better.

“Do not fear the opportunity to do better.” (Chapter 16)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo repeatedly warns people that discussions about race are not going to be comfortable. She especially warns white people that talking honestly about race is going to be disturbing and difficult. But she encourages people to have these discussions anyway. The need for change is urgent, she stresses.

In Chapter 16, she specifically addresses white people, saying that they are going to discover racism in themselves and may feel shame as a result. However, she says white people should not fear finding racist attitudes, fears, or behaviors in themselves; rather, they should fear failing to face these parts of themselves. Facing one’s own guilt and shame is hard, but it can provide a chance to do better. In this framing, Oluo says, the deep discomfort of examining racism is not a problem; it is an opportunity that should not be passed up.

“Words are always at the heart of all our problems, and the beginning of all our solutions.” (Chapter 16)

—Ijeoma Oluo

Analysis: The book So You Want to Talk About Race is a testament to Ijeoma Oluo’s firm belief in the power of words. Words have the power to hurt, oppress, and exclude. They can make people feel isolated, demeaned, and fearful. But they also have the power to heal, solve problems, and shape the future. They can communicate support and love and bring alive a vision for a more just world.

Oluo illustrates the power of words to cause problems through her discussion of the “n-word” and its history of harm and through her examples of microaggressions, which are often verbal. She illustrates the power of words to heal by giving examples of ways people can speak up in their own spheres of influence for racial justice. Yet the main illustration of Oluo’s faith in the power of words to begin undoing the harms of racism is the book itself. She uses words to persuade her audience of their power to harm and to heal and to move them to “talk about race.” Talking about race, of course, is a first step toward taking action to address racism. It is a “beginning” of a solution. But it is an essential and potentially transformative first step.