This is Why I Resist: Don’t Define My Black Identity By Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu
Siobhan Harper-Nunes reads & reviews “This is Why I Resist: Don’t Define My Black Identity”
“Racism is not an opinion and black people’s lived experience of it is not an argument up for debate.”
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu is a British-Nigerian lawyer and academic. She is infamous for her hard-hitting, no-holes barred, “Tell it like it is” activism which makes her a target for racists everywhere. And whilst there have been many books written by academics and activists alike, Shola uses her highly visible social and media platforms to call out racism in all of its’ demonic and insidious guises.
She is insistent and unapologetically so, about her call to action to white people, in their progress on race inclusion. The book repeatedly reminds us that “racism” is not up for discussion, and when we are asked (repeatedly) to defend the term and explain its processes, we are being “whitewashed.”
“No black person is born knowing racism until they experience it. The experiences of many black children racially abused for the first time, having to ask their parents for its meaning, and their confusion, hurt and often shame as to what could be wrong with the colour of their skin, attests to this. It is a privilege for a white child to never experience such shame, rejection, and abuse because of the colour of their skin.”
In this debut work, Dr Shola, repeatedly calls out white supremacy, hate and racist bigotry. And calls for an anti-racist revolution. She explains and systematically explains the origins and nuances of racism and of its partner in crime “white privilege” which is, she states, a “fact not fiction.”
“White privilege is often misunderstood to be associated with wealth and class, but this is not the case. It is simply another form of privilege that confers an advantage in a different capacity. It is privilege based solely on the colour of white skin.”
Racism is only perpetrated by white people and cannot be ‘pigeonholed’ into a neat box. It is far more complex and nuanced. She also insists and this writer categorically agrees, that claims of Black people being racist to white people have no substantive comparative basis or truth. Yes, Black people can be ‘prejudiced’ towards whites but if you understand the term and systems embedded in the process of racism, it is impossible for Black people to be racist!
One of my favourite lines is that “Racism is not a matter of opinion but of experience”. And yes, as she points out, no child is born knowing racism but all of us will have suffered from its effect.
Shola, my hero, is an activist against many injustices and has spoken up powerfully against climate injustice and stands against islamophobia, homophobia and many other injustices. She is a self-professed feminist “I love feminism!” she says and goes on to explain why representation by black women in the feminist movement is both “vital and necessary”.
But she maintains, it is very clear that within the circles of women leading today’s feminist dialogue, there are often over-represented white women, some of whom are blatantly racist toward women of colour and many of whom, feel overshadowed and diluted by the presence of black women.
What I love about Dr Shola’s book is that she clearly and coherently defines racism, what it is and what it isn’t, and the prevalence and persistence of white privilege. She provides the evidence, the arguments, the concepts, and the examples to support all of her statements, so much so I found myself replaying paragraphs over and over, for the first time, especially when considering apologies and excuses for blatantly racist comments, she gave me a road map and the words I need to mount a counterattack on racist bullies.
She is an encyclopaedic font of wisdom but more so, she provides the arguments to express what so many of us cannot and that is, stop asking me to explain the hurt you’re causing me, my family, and half the world, in words that even you can understand! Black people bear the brunt of racism, so why oh why should we be the ones to explain it time and time again?
This book is not just a call to black activists, it’s a call to white activists and a calling out of white racists, and the non-racists who, by nature of enjoying and defending white privilege, are colluding in the systematic degradation of Black people.
Dr Shola is resisting by shining a light on the pathetic excuses and denials of the “it was a harmless mistake,” variety. And watch your words and your inactions as neither is acceptable in Shola-land.
This book should be taught in schools.