You Can Keep That to Yourself, Adam Smyer
You Can Keep That to Yourself, Adam Smyer
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You Can Keep That to Yourself
A Comprehensive List of What Not to Say to Black People, for Well-Intentioned People of Pallor

Author: Adam Smyer

Narrator: Donald Faison

Unabridged: 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/01/2020

Synopsis

At long last, a much-needed guidebook for well-intentioned people of pallor on what not to say to their African American “friends.”
“A balm for tongues bitten and comments swallowed . . . A bitingly humorous compendium of the absurd subtle racism of the American workplace.” —Kirkus Reviews Greetings, well-intentioned person of pallor. Your good intentions used to be enough. But in these diverse and divisive times, some people would hold you accountable for your actions. You were not raised for such unfairness. You need help. And help you now have. Let Daquan—that black coworker you are referring to when you claim to have black friends—help you navigate perilous small talk with African Americans with this handy field guide. This portable bit of emotional labor puts at your fingertips a tabbed and alphabetized list of things not to say to black people. Finally! How to use: Keep this handbook close. Whenever you are confronted with an African American and you feel compelled to blurt out an observation about her hair or to liken your Tesla lease to slavery, ask for a moment to consult this reference. She’ll wait. If the keen insight you want to share is listed herein, You Can Keep That to Yourself. It truly is that easy!

About The Author

Adam Smyer is an attorney, martial artist, and mediocre bass player. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and cats. Knucklehead, Smyer’s debut novel, was the sole title shortlisted for the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jon on June 02, 2023

Humorous - yet so very deep: the things we say to 'our black friends' we really need to reexamine - a powerful look at the intersection of language and equality. This is an honest look at how we often assume we know more about something than we really do; we often forget to listen and understand the......more

Goodreads review by Lark on September 05, 2020

This little book is designed to mimic a book of gentle daily aphorisms. The look of this book is genteel and gifty, and the message inside is deliberately dissonant with this look. Humor and outrage mix from page to page, in a way that reminds me, not surprisingly, of Smyer's novel Knucklehead. It's......more

Goodreads review by Rod on June 05, 2022

Cutting, brilliant, hilarious, and unfortunately necessary.......more

Goodreads review by Jessi on September 18, 2020

Another teeny tiny recently published book about being anti-racist (at least, I feel that this is what it best accomplishes) only unlike another one I read this year, this one is actually useful! And I wish I could force people to read it! And take a quiz on it! And I don't really say that from up o......more

Goodreads review by High Plains on September 07, 2021

In You Can Keep That to Yourself, novelist and lawyer Adam Smyer has created a short—and often quite hilarious—list of expressions, ranging from awkwardly tone-deaf to undoubtedly offensive, used by White Americans. Organized alphabetically, the commentary on those expressions is at turns insightful......more

Quotes

In this slim and witty volume, attorney Smyer collects an alphabetized short list of things not to say to African-Americans . . . Each entry is designed to strip away the hypocrisy and half-truths of these cultural exchanges by laughing at them. Smyer’s hilarious sampler offers astute observations on race and culture.—Publishers Weekly

By turns funny, sarcastic, and possibly true for many Black (and non-Black) Americans . . . While there is humor throughout, there is also a strong sense of anger, annoyance, and weariness when it comes to the Black experience in Trump’s America. And though Smyer is addressing white people specifically, his humor can be appreciated by anyone who needs a good chuckle (and an education).—Library Journal

It reminds me of the dictionary, which is helpful because it is a dictionary in its own category. For its purpose of education and enjoyment, I say it met the mark.—San Francisco Book Review

Using humor, Smyer relays harsh truths about U.S. race relations . . . With a tongue-in-cheek tone, Smyer offers an accessible critique of Whiteness in America . . . Smyer models for us how to use humor and candor to fight back against the microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations suffered by marginalized and racialized communities of color.—Colors of Influence

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