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Sisters Ruffin and Lamar compare their personal and professional lives in a funny, vivid account that unpacks the realities of coping with constant racism.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Before becoming a comedy writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers, before starring in her own sketch series, Amber Ruffin was Lacey Lamar’s little sister growing up in Omaha, Nebraska. In this book, the charming and hilarious sister duo outlines some of the most memorable instances of racism they’ve experienced as Black women in America. Ruffin acknowledges that she lives and works in a relative bubble, in progressive New York City, and on the set of a television show that aims to call out racist behavior whenever possible. Meanwhile, in her office jobs and in various public settings around Omaha, Lamar has seen it all: she’s been mistaken for countless Black celebrities and for her few Black coworkers. She’s had to explain the problematic nature of too many Halloween costumes. She’s been targeted by JC Penney security, even had someone get their whole hand stuck in her hair when they touched it without her permission. Ruffin and Lamar offer a dual commentary on each story, their perspectives an endearing portrait of sibling psychology and friendship. They present the content of the stories as is: pervasive and horrifying. Featuring the authors' razor-sharp wit and limitless brilliance, these true tales of injustice are a gift to readers.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Comedy writer Ruffin recounts the endless indignities involved in being a Black woman in America, with her older sister as foil. The Ruffin sisters grew up with a mother who “has a bad case of the smarts…and…isn’t fond of people messing with her children”—messing that comes daily from the White residents of Omaha, Nebraska, a city, Ruffin reminds us, that may sound like Hicksville, USA, but is larger than New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis. Those White citizens think nothing of using the N-word, nor of touching Black women’s hair, nor of assuming that the Black residents of Omaha are violent and thievish. The latter assumptions build in ways that the sisters find sometimes amusing, sometimes hurtful, always astonishingly awful. Lamar—who remained in Omaha while Ruffin moved to New York, where she writes for Late Night With Seth Meyers—recounts a trip to a store when a friend asked about the cost of a Rolex on display. Told “expensive,” her friend replied, “Bitch, I’ll take two.” Lamar got the same response when she asked about a coffee table and then was floored when the manager informed her of the hardly shattering price tag of $200. Some indignities are nearly inexplicable: One man tried an online come-on with a Confederate flag as backdrop; an elementary school teacher attributed slavery to keeping-up-with-the-Joneses peer pressure. “The reaction always varies because you can only put up with what you can put up with when you can put up with it,” writes Ruffin. “And here’s a little reminder that we shouldn’t have to put up with this shit AT ALL!” Most of the time, the sisters’ reactions are a kind of knowing exasperation. “We are not into trying to educate white America, but maybe we accidentally did,” they conclude. The education is no accident, and White readers can certainly use the wake-up call. Both maddening and funny, an eye-opening look at how its daily targets cope with racism. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Comedy writer Ruffin recounts the endless indignities involved in being a Black woman in America, with her older sister as foil.The Ruffin sisters grew up with a mother who has a bad case of the smartsandisnt fond of people messing with her childrenmessing that comes daily from the White residents of Omaha, Nebraska, a city, Ruffin reminds us, that may sound like Hicksville, USA, but is larger than New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis. Those White citizens think nothing of using the N-word, nor of touching Black womens hair, nor of assuming that the Black residents of Omaha are violent and thievish. The latter assumptions build in ways that the sisters find sometimes amusing, sometimes hurtful, always astonishingly awful. Lamarwho remained in Omaha while Ruffin moved to New York, where she writes for Late Night With Seth Meyersrecounts a trip to a store when a friend asked about the cost of a Rolex on display. Told expensive, her friend replied, Bitch, Ill take two. Lamar got the same response when she asked about a coffee table and then was floored when the manager informed her of the hardly shattering price tag of $200. Some indignities are nearly inexplicable: One man tried an online come-on with a Confederate flag as backdrop; an elementary school teacher attributed slavery to keeping-up-with-the-Joneses peer pressure. The reaction always varies because you can only put up with what you can put up with when you can put up with it, writes Ruffin. And heres a little reminder that we shouldnt have to put up with this shit AT ALL! Most of the time, the sisters reactions are a kind of knowing exasperation. We are not into trying to educate white America, but maybe we accidentally did, they conclude. The education is no accident, and White readers can certainly use the wake-up call.Both maddening and funny, an eye-opening look at how its daily targets cope with racism. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Late Night with Seth Meyers writer Ruffin and her sister, Lamar, recount the racism Lamar has experienced growing up and living in Omaha, Neb., expertly balancing laugh-out-loud humor and descriptions of deplorable actions. The authors chronicle the “constant flow of racism one must endure to live in the Midwest,” with stories of Lamar getting consistently followed by security at JC Penney as a child, being publicly humiliated by a teacher who made her move to the back of the classroom, getting fired for calling out racist mistreatment from her boss, and being mistaken for Whoopi Goldberg and Harriet Tubman. While the writing is consistently funny, the severity of the racism is never downplayed; Ruffin and Lamar show the necessity of embracing humor as a coping mechanism. As Ruffin states at the book’s close, “This is not every experience and it is not a lifetime’s worth of stories. And, with that said, isn’t it waaaay more than you expected?” This is an excellently executed account, rich with vivid insight. Agent: Anthony Mattero, CAA. (Jan.)