Race Rules: What Your Black Friend Won't Tell You -- Fatimah Gilliam, Paperback

"Those looking to move beyond performative allyship will find this an excellent resource." --Publishers Weekly

"Well-informed, hard-hitting advice for antiracists." --Kirkus Reviews

What if there were a set of rules to educate people against race-based social faux pas that damage relationships, perpetuate racist stereotypes, and harm people of color? This book provides just that in an effort to slow the malignant domino effect of race-based ignorance in American communities and workplaces to help address the vestiges of our nation's racist past.

Race Rules is an innovative, practical manual for white people of the unwritten rules relating to race, explaining the unvarnished truth about racist and offensive white behaviors. It offers a unique lens from Fatimah Gilliam, a light-skinned Black woman, and is informed by the revealing things white people say when they don't realize she's Black.

Presented as a series of race rules, this book has each chapter tackling a specific topic many people of color wish white people understood. Combining history and explanations with practical advice, it goes beyond the theoretical by focusing on what's implementable.

Gilliam addresses issues such as:

• Racial blinders and misperceptions
• White privilege
• Racial stereotypes
• Everyday choices and behaviors that cause racial harm

Introducing a straightforward universal three-step framework to unlearn racism and challenge misconceptions, this book offers readers a chance to change behaviors and shift mindsets to better navigate cross-racial interactions and relationships. Through its race etiquette guidelines, it teaches white people to become action-oriented racism disruptors instead of silent, complicit supporters of white supremacy.

Author: Fatimah Gilliam
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 01/30/2024
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 8.60h x 6.20w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9781523004485

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/06/2023
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2024

About the Author
Fatimah Gilliam began her career as a corporate attorney on Wall Street, worked for Citigroup overseeing campus diversity recruiting for all its U.S. businesses, and oversaw corporate partnerships as the Head of Finance and Fundraising for North America for the Nobel Peace Prize-winning United Nations World Food Programme. Since founding The Azara Group, which provides diversity and inclusion, leadership development, negotiation, and strategy consulting services, she has advised Fortune 500 corporations, senior executives running billion-dollar businesses, and industry thought leaders. She holds a law degree from Columbia Law School, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a BA from Wellesley College.