Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

• Author: Emmanuel Acho
• Genre: Nonfiction/Social Sciences
• Publication Date: November 10, 2020
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio

“You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. “There is a fix,” Acho says. “But in order to access it, we’re going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations.”

In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask—yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.”

In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity—but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.

After reading Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew and loving how thoroughly it discussed some topics that could be really uncomfortable, I got curious and wanted to see what kind of stuff would be revealed in this book about Black people, and specifically from the viewpoint of Emmanuel Acho, a Black man who grew up wealthy and socioeconomically privileged, played professional football, and now works as a sports analyst and hosts a video series on YouTube. 

I loved his conversational, open, and honest style in the previous audiobook, so I chose to read this one in the same way. I love Acho’s voice, which is meant for audiobook narration. In addition, it makes it feel more like listening to a friend talk to me when I listen to this on audiobook, as opposed to reading it on a page, which feels to me like it would distance me from the author.

In this book, rather than having an uncomfortable conversation with another person, Acho had invited listeners to his show to submit questions that they wanted to ask Black people but felt like they couldn’t. And he did a wonderful job of choosing questions. He devoted a chapter to each question, including things like: How to talk about race with people who are minorities, the terminology shift from African American to Black, the intersection between racism and classism, family structure, how to identify and remove your own implicit bias, what is reverse racism and is it a real thing, and how to be an ally. He utilizes a variety of techniques to answer these questions and make things not only easy to understand, but also easy to relate to, one of my favorite being analogies. He kept the tone light and conversational, making this a book that I enjoyed reading, and he inserted humor when he could. Somehow, despite being the only person talking, it still felt like he was having a conversation. And my favorite part of the book was the way that he gave concrete actions that can be taken to work on removing bias that we might not have even realized that we have been holding, and how to create change in racist systems and institutions without it feeling overwhelming. 

Overall, this was a fantastic read, and I walked away from this knowing more about not only Black people, but about how to be a better ally to the Black people in my life, but also to the Black community at large. This book was written and released shortly after the George Floyd murder and Black Lives Matter protests, and it reads like a good beginning guide for white people who want to learn more about being sensitive to the experiences of Black people, especially in America. One of Acho’s strengths is his friendly and easygoing manner, which makes it easier to talk about these uncomfortable topics without clamming up or getting defensive—he takes his time and makes sure that the question is answered clearly and thoroughly. This is one of those books that should be required reading, and I’m looking forward to checking out his video series. Hopefully he expands this into a series and has uncomfortable conversations with all kinds of minorities for us to learn about. 

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