Antoinette Latouf shouldn’t have had to write this book. That she has, is a stinging indictment on white people. Yes … pretty much all of us. The book might make for uncomfortable reading. You might be white and not have been confronted with truths about the lived experience of People of Colour before. Worse, you might have dismissed the effects of that experience. More importantly, making the white reader feel uncomfortable is the point – too many of us have allowed racial injustice to occur without actively working to stop it. This ‘how to’ book aims to redress that lack.

Latouf has had to reassess relationships because of actions of white people. White privilege is a peculiar thing: if you have it, you probably can’t see it; but it’s glaringly visible to those without it. The concept of ‘shades of Blackness’ is a familiar trope, but here, Latouf cleverly examines shades of whiteness.

The differences in treatment of white to non-white Australians are stark. Latouf compares the treatment of Adam Goodes, Yasmin Abdel-Magied and Yumi Stines to white Australian voices which silence the opinions of the former.

Having to explain unconscious bias is consistently left to People of Colour – and it’s exhausting. The first nine chapters have a ‘do’ and ‘don’t’ conclusion. The final chapter has a handy recipe for prevailing in this fight. There is humour amid the heartache. This should be mandatory reading for all.

Reviewed by Bob Moore