“Are they going to get tongue tied? Are they gonna get defensive? Are they going to get dismissive?” she said.

Then, there’s the anxiety of bringing up race at all, Pride added.

“But when you meet a new White person, as I met Jo as a new friend, there is, I think, a built-in level of apprehension there about what is this person’s background? What is their family like? You know, what, what are they hearing at the dinner table? What did they hear about Black people growing up? Who are their other friends? What is their social circle?” “Black people, in general, are very wary of having this conversation because we talk about race amongst each other a lot because it’s a central component of life,” Pride said. What they didn’t expect was that their own talks would feel so challenging, testing the limits of both their working relationship and their friendship throughout the process. Over time, in talking about their different backgrounds and how they grew up, they were inspired to write a novel told in alternating voices between a Black woman and a White woman. The two first met when Pride worked as Piazza’s editor for her novel, “Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win.” I knew about all of Christine’s terrible ex-boyfriends before we actually had a decent conversation about race.” “And, sometimes, it’s the last thing you talk about. “For us, writing together as a Black woman and a White woman, and as friends who became friends late in life, we had never talked about race until we really started writing this book because we didn’t have to,” Piazza said. The two used their own friendship – Pride is Black and Piazza is White – as a starting point. The story centers around a White woman named Jen and a Black woman named Riley, who are forced to deal with race after Jen’s police officer husband is involved in the shooting of a Black teen. Throughout their novel, uncomfortable events happen which start exactly the kind of conversation Pride and Piazza wanted their book, “We Are Not Like Them,” to tackle. The work is fictional, but the writing allows you to see the world through the eyes of a young Black teen. There is a moment in the beginning of the new book from Christine Pride and Jo Piazza that is written from the perspective of a 14-year-old Black boy.Īfter being shot by police, he thinks of his school picture that his mom will use when he dies and his death becomes news.

Christine pride we are not like them