“What I don't want to see is people in the most junior position, or the only Black or Brown faces in the room taking it [anti-racist work] on, on top of their existing jobs.” Reni Eddo-Lodge, the Journalist, Podcaster and Author of the groundbreaking book Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race powerfully shared her view on the importance of ‘collective self-reflection’ in anti-racist work. 

In a wide-ranging and thought-provoking interview with Dominic Carter, EVP and Publisher of The Sun, Eddo-Lodge urged the audience to: “Analyse your own power and how that is affecting the room as it can cut off our empathy.”

Stop Funding Hate

“Media and journalism is becoming very partisan,” said Eddo-Lodge, who noted that authors are being treated with a lot less good faith in the current climate. Sharing her love of investigative journalism, she pointed out that there is a lot of ‘surface positivity’ rather than ethical practice. For example, companies need to think about the diversity of their boards or if they are paying a fair wage rather than employing what she describes as ‘superficial box ticking’.

Responding to the rise of hate speech in the media Eddo-Lodge noted: “If advertisers are needing to hold media to account they need to do some serious self-reflection.” Sharing her view that all too often there is an explicit set up rather than balance in media coverage, she noted that “we can't have structural change without deep understanding.”

The emotional labour of anti-racist work

Opening up on the emotional labour of anti-racist work she explained that she creates boundaries and barriers around challenging experiences. “When it came to talking about the book in public I made it clear that I'm not doing the screaming match. I think this topic is too important to do that too.”

Eddo-Lodge noted that it is “reasonable to be angry and upset about structural inequality.” She urged the audience to recognise their privilege. Noting that accepting your privilege is not about saying you have never faced any barriers in your life, instead it is about acknowledging that the broader structures of society favour white people. Yet she noted that there are leaders who do understand this, but simply do not care. 

Sharing that there is still a ‘significant amount of resistance’ around the conversation on structural privilege, she pointed to the role of ‘citizen journalism’ in changing the narrative around racism. 

Image credit @ Bronac McNeill photography