Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game. : Pathways to Black Empowerment, Prosperity, and Joy

Instead of waiting for white people to change, Black people must prioritize their own prosperity, power, and self-determination by navigating, challenging, and exiting racist systems—a radical argument from a Harvard behavioral scientist.

In late 2023, world-renowned diversity expert Robert Livingston flipped the script. Invited to give a presentation on antiracism to a packed hotel ballroom, he instead told the crowd something that few in his industry had been saying but that many had been thinking: The current approach to DEI was broken. Racism functions like an intractable addiction, ever persistent and often re-emerging more strongly than ever after brief periods of sobriety. Thus, Black people needed to answer a different question. How should they pursue successful and joyful lives despite the enduring presence of racism?

In this eye-opening and powerfully written book, Livingston argues that Black people can pursue three paths. They can play the game, or find ways to make white people feel “unthreatened” without sacrificing their own dignity, identity, or authenticity. Think of Kenneth Chenault, for example, a “tempered radical” who rose through the ranks to become the first Black CEO of American Express. They can change the game, or challenge the system head on—like Colin Kaepernick, whose idealism cost him his football career but made him an icon. And finally they can leave the game, or turn away altogether from traditionally white environments to carve out spaces where Black people can flourish, such as in entrepreneurial ventures, HBCUs, or the all-Black community where Livingston grew up.

Drawing on social science research, his own experiences, and interviews with prominent Black business leaders, politicians, activists, and academics, Livingston reveals the contours of these three paths and gives readers hope and inspiration in these troubled times. Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game. is a bold, groundbreaking proposition that empowers readers to choose the path that is right for them, and make the leap from being played to making their own rules.