We are here because our parents were more privileged than other Nigerians. But I can’t speak to the intergenerational trauma, so when I get asked to do Juneteenth interviews, I refer them to people who can better speak to that. Mine is a Black American story: If we get pulled over by the cops we’re treated the same when we walk through a store we’re getting followed by the same security guard. Oluo: My upbringing was Black American but I was in regular correspondence with Nigerians and could see the difference. I’ve had people saying, “You don’t get to speak for me,” and I say, “I’m not speaking for everybody, I’m just speaking my truth to anyone willing to listen.” I was immersed in white culture at an affluent all-white private school and in Black culture playing football. I’m first-generation American and grew up in a Nigerian-cultured household. I didn’t want to offend the same people that I am trying to defend. How are your books shaped by your experiences as children of immigrants?Īcho: I’m interested in Ijeoma’s perspective since she’s been in this space way longer than I have, but I wanted to say Black people are not one monolithic group. It’s the story of power: The people making decisions are always white men, and the brunt of the anger and backlash is always any person of color, and especially women of color. I also quickly found out how connected race and gender often were. I try to make the connections strong, because there’s a collective gaslighting. Oluo: As a Black person in America, when something happens you are taken back to past stories. Let’s not pretend the things that occurred back then are no longer occurring. How do you balance that historical context with present-day realities and personal experience?Īcho: At times, it’s not enough to just use history because people think it’s dated, so you bring it forth to the present tense - you tie Emmett Till to the story of Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper in Central Park, another white woman lying on a Black man. The poet, essayist and author, most recently, of “Just Us,” discusses the evolving movement toward racial justice with Professor Marcus Anthony Hunter. Unlike “Mediocre,” it is a direct response to the events of 2020.īooks Claudia Rankine on Black Lives Matter, Naomi Osaka and justice for all A former linebacker and current L.A.-based NFL analyst, he had been planning a book on sports psychology before the protests inspired him to instead create a video series - and now a book. “If I had updated this, it would have been a book that was less about patterns and more about the present.”Īcho tackles the issue from another perspective. “We’re in the natural continuation of what I’ve written about, so I wanted to say, ‘This is part of the disaster I was talking about,’” Oluo explains. Oluo, a fearless columnist, wrote a prescient 2018 book, “ So You Want to Talk About Race.” But as “Mediocre” was being edited, she declined the opportunity to update it in reaction to the pandemic and protests. 3 on the New York Times Best Sellers list.īeyond those parallels, their paths and approaches to this particular moment, after mass protests over the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, couldn’t be more different. Acho’s debut, “ Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man,” was published earlier this month and debuted at No. Oluo’s book, “ Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America,” is out next week. Ijeoma Oluo and Emmanuel Acho are both children of Nigerian immigrants, and today both are guiding lights in America’s conversation about antiracism. If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores.
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