How Not to Get Shot

And Other Advice From White People

D. L. Hughley, Doug Moe

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9780062698643
• eBook ISBN:
  9780062698551
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Civil Rights in Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS FINALIST

"Hilarious yet soul-shaking." — Black Enterprise

The fearless comedy legend—one of the "Original Kings of Comedy"—hilariously breaks down the wisdom of white people, advice that has been killing black folks in America for four hundred years and counting.

200 years ago, white people told black folks, "'I suggest you pick the cotton if you don't like getting whipped." Today, it's "comply with police orders if you don't want to get shot." Now comedian/activist D. L. Hughley–one the Original Kings of Comedy–confronts and remixes white people's "advice" in this "hilarious examination of the current state of race relations in the United States" ( Publishers Weekly) .

In America, a black man is three times more likely to be killed in encounters with police than a white guy. If only he had complied with the cop, he might be alive today, pundits say in the aftermath of the latest shooting of an unarmed black man. Or, Maybe he shouldn't have worn that hoodie … or, moved more slowly … not been out so late … Wait, why are black people allowed to drive, anyway?

This isn't a new phenomenon. White people have been giving "advice" to black folks for as long as anyone can remember, telling them how to pick cotton, where to sit on a bus, what neighborhood to live in, when they can vote, and how to wear our pants. Despite centuries of whites' advice, it seems black people still aren't listening, and the results are tragic.

Now, at last, activist, comedian, and New York Times bestselling author D. L. Hughley offers How Not to Get Shot, an illustrated how-to guide for black people, full of insight from white people, translated by one of the funniest black dudes on the planet. In these pages you will learn how to act, dress, speak, walk, and drive in the safest manner possible. You also will finally understand the white mind. It is a book that can save lives. Or at least laugh through the pain.

Black people: Are you ready to not get shot! White people: Do you want to learn how to help the cause? Let's go!

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• How to Use This Book
• Icons Used in This Book
• Part I: How Not to Get Shot by the Police
• 1 Comply with Police Orders
• 2 Don’t Talk Back
• 3 Don’t Break the Law!
• 4 You Have to Understand: Cops Are Scared
• 5 Do Be an Angel
• 6 Don’t Drive like a Suspect
• 7 If You Do Get hot, Don’t Rush to Judgment
• 8 The Real Way to Not Get Shot by the Police
• Part II: How to Look
• 9 Don’t Match the Description
• 10 How to Dress Less Threatening
• 11 Don’t Have Gang Tattoos
• 12 How to Do Your Hair
• Part III: How to Act
• 13 How to Be Nice and Quiet
• 14 What Kind of Music Should You Listen To?
• 15 Stop Making White People Say the N-Word
• 16 How to Not Come from a Single-Parent Household
• 17 What to Name Your Kids
• 18 How to Get a Job
• 19 Stop Taking Handouts
• 20 How to Move into a White Neighborhood
• Part IV: Understanding White People
• 21 What Kind of Black People Do White People Like?
• 22 Your Bill of Rights
• 23 “I’m Not Racist, I Have Black Friends”
• 24 How to Not Be a Reverse Racist
• 25 How to Not Play the Race Card
• 26 End White-on-White Crime!
• 27 How to Make White Food
• Part V: Tidbits of Advice for White People from Black People
• 28 It’s Hard Being White, but Try to Make Do
• 29 Pay Attention to Signs
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• An Excerpt from SURRENDER, WHITE PEOPLE
• About the Authors
• Also by D. L. Hughley
• Copyright
• About The Publisher