RACE RULES

How to fight racial injustice.

As a light-skinned woman of color, Gilliam, a former corporate attorney and diversity expert, has witnessed “a consistent, daily pattern” of transgressions by white people in their remarks and attitudes about race. “I see you, you don’t see me,” she writes, “and in not seeing me, you don’t see yourselves but reveal yourselves to me, and I see you even more.” These white people would bristle at the idea that they are racist; many are liberal Democrats or “wannabe wokes” who vigorously denounce white supremacy. Still, Gilliam asserts, they’re steeped in a racist culture that’s taught them racial stereotypes and fed their assumptions about people of color. “Real racism,” she’s discovered, “involves everyday white people who work with you, screen candidates at your job, live with you, walk dogs near your home, play with your kids, and sit at your holiday dinner table.” The author provides a practical manual for white people who are “floundering in cross-racial interactions and slipping when sharing views on people of color.” In seven sections that encompass 30 rules, the book presents situation-specific dos and don’ts on issues such as racial injustice, violence, cultural appropriation, microaggressions, and tokenism, with one overarching Race Rule: “Choose To Disrupt Racism Every Day.” Each section ends with questions for self-reflection, which Gilliam underscores as crucial for change. “Without self-reflection and personal accountability,” she writes, “few will see nor admit that through their actions and apathy they oppress, cause pain, and disadvantage people of color to maintain power and privilege.” Systemic advantages fuel white privilege, Gilliam argues, debunking the myth of the American dream, which she sees as elusive for people of color, while white people benefit from White Welfare: “society’s ultimate entitlement program for whites built on historic oppression, racial discrimination, and white-centered opportunity.”

Well-informed, hard-hitting advice for antiracists.