2015 Issa Rae Book Excerpt Has Some People Upset

A passage from Rae's 'The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl' is getting a lot of belated traction.

Apr 30, 2018
Issa Rae
Photography by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Issa Rae
Photography by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

An excerpt from Issa Rae's definitely not new book has some people upset. 

Recently, selected text from the Insecure creator's 2015 publication The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl—specifically, a passage about Black women and Asian men—started making its way across social media:

What stands out to me is (1) how much more straight forward Issa Rae can be about Asian women (saying they are "ditching" Asian men for white) than Asian women themselves, and (2) how there is a similar, unspoken diss of black men here as less intellectual than Asian men. pic.twitter.com/9MBSGw9mhg

— Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (@Mont_Jiang) April 29, 2018

Though some have been quick to criticize the writing, others have noted the importance of context:

On Issa Rae.

Because context matters. And because I read her book. And because I taught her book.

The first pic is the intro to the book, which I’ll come back to. 2-4 are the whole section that’s been shared. pic.twitter.com/jffPNI5L1W

— It’s Not Waffle House, It’s Waffle Home (@DrRondreaMathis) April 30, 2018

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl attempts to explain awkward situations or conundrums.

What does that have to do with Black women/Asian men? Both, from Issa’s perspective, have a bad dating reputation.

Her tongue in cheek solution? Date each other.

— It’s Not Waffle House, It’s Waffle Home (@DrRondreaMathis) April 30, 2018

Issa Rae is a comedian. She’s not a sociologist, anthropologist, or public intellectual. Her book isn’t hard science. It’s humorous observations about growing up Non-American Black with a weird name.

— It’s Not Waffle House, It’s Waffle Home (@DrRondreaMathis) April 30, 2018

People who are mad at a 3-year old passage in Issa Rae's book about black women and asian men clearly don't understand satire: https://t.co/AO1CZ87Qcp pic.twitter.com/YOZ270sJ3k

— The Root (@TheRoot) April 30, 2018
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At the time of this writing, Rae had not addressed the resurgence of the book excerpt.

The book in question, a New York Times bestseller that shares a name with Rae's pre-Insecure web series, included an assortment of humor-driven essays and was widely praised by critics. Per the Los Angeles Times, the book showed why Rae is "the queen of media."

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