You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism

Years ago I tried to tell my book club of a couple of articles I'd read that documented poor pregnancy outcomes in Black women compared to White women regardless of education or financial status. They thought I was nuts or at least exaggerating. Amber Ruffin and Lacey explain the phenomenon perfectly even though there's nothing about pregnancy in the book. There's this middle-class family of well-educated nerds, they love art and literature and math. They love sitting at the front of the class so the teacher can see what smarties they are. Yet throughout their lives, wherever they go (J. C. Pennys is prominent) they're assumed to be poor, ignorant, thieving prostitutes. As Amber says, "What?" If one of the things that happened to them show more happened to me I would be in a complete tizzy, yet they have to endure mean racist comments, off-hand racist comments, or "well meaning" racist comments continually. Amazingly, they have kept their sense of humor, but such attacks have to keep a body continually stressed, continually ready for fight or flight. Human bodies are not supposed to function under such assault. And Amber laughs through the whole book, and little Lacey is a bodybuilder. The combination of the horrid subject matter with Amber's comedic presentation is magical. show less

You WILL believe these stories, but you'll wish for a world where you couldn't. My jaw literally dropped a number of times, especially at the HR lady stories. About as fun as listening to racist stories can possibly be (which is to say, the presentation is funny, but the content is distressingly depressing)...but it sure doesn't make me want to move to Omaha.

God damn this is a tough listen, and it makes me horrified to know that white people are this racist. Amber Ruffin is a comedian, so she keeps up this very upbeat voice acting while telling these stories about her sister Lacey (& some of hers too); it made me keep uttering these laughing yelps of horror throughout. I want every white person to read/listen to this and hopefully come to some sort of reckoning with themselves. It’s helping me in calling out other white people and paying attention in my life too.

Amber Ruffin, a comedy writer and cast member on Late Night with Seth Meyers and the host of her own late night Amber Ruffin Show, and her sister Lacey Lamarr relay stories of sometimes funny but always appalling racism that they experience as Black women in America.

Lacey lives in Omaha, Nebraska, which - in case you didn't know, as I didn't before picking up this book - is in fact one of the larger cities in the U.S. You'd think white people would be, at the very least, used to interacting with Black people without putting their feet in their mouths (at best) or being egregiously racist (at worst). But no, this book will fast disabuse you of that notion. Amber and Lacey relay the stories - most of them, but not all, happened to Lacey - show more of interactions running the gamut from awful teachers to racist co-workers to random strangers in the grocery store putting their entire hand in a Black woman's hair. Some made me laugh, but most made me angry, and opened my eyes further to the presence of racist behavior and stereotyping in the U.S., as well as the emotional energy it takes to deal with it on such a regular basis. show less

Racism isn't funny...this book is, though. Lacey lives in Nebraska and faces frighteningly frequent racism in the workplace and around town. Luckily for us readers, her sister Amber is a comedian. The two of them partnered to tell a hilarious version of the terrible experiences Lacey has had. I was heartbroken for Lacey. I also laughed out loud at the audacity of some of these people she has encountered. I want to emphasize: in the WORKPLACE. Definitely worth reading if you like a laugh alongside your social commentary.

This book is a really funny look at some of the racist nonsense that Black people have to deal with. Now... ultimately, it's not funny at all. It's sad and frustrating that anyone has to put up with the things that are discussed here. However, Lacey and Amber tell these stories with as much humor as is possible while still acknowledging how awful the reality is. As a non-Black reader, I'd have to say that this is definitely worth picking up at a MINIMUM to get some perspective on life and the different challenges facing Black people. I listened to the audiobook, and while that meant that I missed out on some of the pictures shown in the print copy, I did get to hear Amber sing her "Sleepy Daddy" parody song, and that more than made up show more for it. show less

A definite must-read. Humor writer Amber Ruffin, with her sister Lacey tell stories about racist things people have said or done to them and people they know. It would be depressing as hell, but it's written in such a way that you just have to laugh.
I read this with my book club of mostly older, white suburban ladies who are all at different levels of belief and disbelief about what happened to Lacey. This was eye-opening for a lot of them; some of whom weren't even aware you weren't supposed to touch a black person's hair.
I found the most egregious episode what happened to Lacey and Amber's parents when they started a successful business in the Midwest in the 1970's. Apparently, there was no recourse; no one to whom they could show more appeal. I recommend reading the book if you're curious. Or, just, if you're breathing. show less