Synopses & Reviews
An urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man”
“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 50 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.
About the Author
Emmanuel Acho grew up in Dallas with his three siblings, the son of Nigerian immigrant parents. In 2012 he was drafted into the NFL by the Cleveland Browns, and later played with the Philadelphia Eagles, while earning a master’s degree in sports psychology at the University of Texas in the off-seasons. In 2016 he left the NFL for ESPN, where he served as the youngest national football analyst, and was named a 2018 Forbes Under 30 Selection. He is now a Fox Sports analyst and the creator of the ongoing online video series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.”