I have two policies for trying to understand things. First, it’s not the responsibility of other people to educate you. It is your responsibility to learn and grow. Second, when someone understands a subject better than you and will share their understanding, you should accept what they say as true unless you have legitimate reasons to believe otherwise. These reasons must include concrete proof or equally qualified experts. I say this because February is black history month, and I have implemented the first of these policies and put in extra effort this year to educate myself. The second is important because as a middle-aged white guy I am not the expert on this subject and so do not have the qualifications to discount the views of those who are much more aware of racial prejudice even if I haven’t personally experienced it.

Wanting to start with something that is both educational and entertaining, I picked “Surrender White People” by D. L. Hughley. It was an excellent choice because it made me laugh more than a few times while touching on many of the basic points that I hope other books I read will go into more detail on. And while I knew about some bits of history that were listed as being known mostly by black people. I am less proud of having learned of those facts only recently and primarily by watching fictional television shows on HBO.

What is “Surrender White People” by D. L. Hughley about?

The basic premise of “Surrender White People” by D. L. Hughley is that white people are unlikely to remain the majority much longer since minority groups are growing at a faster rate. It would be a good idea for white people to negotiate a peace treaty now and this book lays out the agreements that should be made and the reasons for those agreements while acknowledging that as white people we have a history of not fully abiding by the spirit or letter of the law with minorities. Each of the chapters lays out one grievance and points out how it can be fixed while throwing in enough jokes to make keep things light.

It starts out by setting out the evidence that a peace treaty is needed by confirming that yes; we are at war. It mentions many of the names of black men and women who have been shot with little or no repercussions while acknowledging that the list will be out of date by the time the book was published. That he didn’t know how out of date or have the name of George Floyd is a testament to the truth of that statement as is his assertion that black people are killed multiple times, first killed in body and then their reputations are killed so that it is easier to excuse the deaths as justified.

The first thing he discusses is reparations. But he doesn’t demand them as you might expect. He starts by pointing out that it isn’t nearly as difficult or as unprecedented as people might expect. Reparations have been paid to other groups in the past, including Germany paying money to Israel and to Italians over their treatment in the USA. But there isn’t even a demand for them in this agreement, only a demand that white people consider it because the wealth gained by slave owners and lost by slaves is still felt in the wealth of their descendants and the costs of housing discrimination and other more modern practices.

I won’t go into every step he prescribes because there are many. He points out the need to have a united history, asks that the police stop shooting unarmed black people, discusses the health problems that black people suffer and the many cases of famous people having worn black-face in their past and many other things that people in America are aware of or willfully ignorant of and he does it with enough humor that he might actually convince some people on the edge of that line to listen but he never surrenders the points that he is making.

What did I think of “Surrender White People” by D. L. Hughley

This book isn’t as funny or as informative as it might have been if it had focused on either of those exclusively. It points out a lot of problems in the American experiment when it comes to race, but it doesn’t go into as much detail as one might want. That said, it does a fantastic job of exposing you to things that are both dark and painful without making you miserable, and it gives legitimate ideas on how to work to improve things. It also relies mostly on things that can be definitively proved using antidote only as ways to reinforce the point he is making rather than making it.

That said, outside of race some amounts of D. L. Hughley’s political leanings to appear. I don’t think these are unreasonable but there are marginally more opinion based than the flat out facts and while I mostly agreed with him, I can see where that might keep the message from reaching everyone it could, but even that was mostly pretty funny.

Conclusion

If you want a fairly light-hearted primer that covers most of the major issues of modern racism in America while remaining mostly enjoyable to read, then this is great. If you’re looking for a comprehensive, then look for something more academical focused and if you’re bothered by a book that discusses racism, like some people who wrote reviews, you may want to avoid a book titled “Surrender White People.” Or at least not pretend to be surprised that it’s about race.