Lilian Thuram

What does it mean to be white? Beyond just a skin colour, is it also a way of thinking? If so, how did it come about, and why?In this book, drawing on history, personal experience and activist literature, the former footballer and World Champion Lilian Thuram looks at the origins and workings of white thinking, how it divides us and how it has become ubiquitous and accepted without challenge. He demonstrates how centuries of white bias and denial justified slavery and colonialism, and have reinforced norms and structures of oppression, limiting the roles and horizons of both non-whites and whites alike.Crucially, while White Thinking is a critique of ingrained structural inequities, it calls for an inclusive approach to solving the problem, and aims to raise awareness and imagine a new world in which all of humanity is given equal weight.‘White Thinking patiently demonstrates… how European societies, through their creation of Black people, also invented White people.’ Le Monde‘Strikes another blow in his battle against racial stereotypes.’ La Vie‘This book is not interested in repentance or white guilt but in the ability to face up to historical reality and to the fact that others might have a very different understanding of that history.’ Revue des deux mondes‘He is almost unique amongst retired sportspeople, having left his old life behind him in the dressing room. Today, the activist has replaced the footballer.’ Libération‘This wonderful book is as thoughtful as it is brave.’ Paul Gilroy FRSL FBA, founding Director of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Race and Racism at University College, London

People, young and old, need stars to guide them. They need models to construct their own identity, to build their self-esteem, to change the way they see the world and to overcome their own and others’ prejudice.During my childhood, many stars were pointed out to me. I admired them, dreamt about them: Socrates, Baudelaire, Einstein, Marie Curie, General de Gaulle, Mother Teresa… But nobody ever spoke to me about black stars. The world of my education was white, from the colour of the school walls to the pages of my textbooks. I knew nothing about my own ancestors. Slavery was the only black subject ever mentioned. In this vision, the history of Black people could only ever be a vale of tears and strife.Can you tell me the name of a black scientist?A black explorer?A black philosopher?A black pharaoh?If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then, whatever the colour of your skin, this book is for you. Because the best way to fight racism and intolerance is to educate ourselves and to broaden our imaginations.The portraits of the men and women in this book are a product of my own reading and my interviews with scholars. Starting with Lucy and ending with Barack Obama, and along the way meeting Aesop, Dona Béatrice, Pushkin, Anne Zingha, Aimé Césaire, Martin Luther King and many others. These stars have allowed me to reject the idea that I am a victim, to renew my faith in mankind and, above all, to believe in myself. - Lilian ThuramThis translation of Lilian Thuram’s bestselling 2010 volume, Mes Etoiles Noires, by Laurent Dubois (University of Virginia), finally brings his anti-racism work to the attention of an English-language audience (the book has already been translated into several European languages). At a time when the Black Lives Matter movement has reminded us of the need to tell more complex stories about our shared past, this volume constitutes a timely intervention by a prominent black sporting figure.