User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I appreciated this book and felt disappointed by it too, so if you want a non-controversial review scroll over to something else for now. I felt most grateful for Ibram Kendi’s argument that you either are racist or antiracist and there’s no real in between – that by passively being “non racist,” you collude in racism by allowing racist policy and ideology to persist. He applies this argument to several pertinent issues such as the racist nature of standardized testing, police brutality, intersectionality and racism against Black women and Black queer folk, and more. I liked his vulnerability in sharing about his personal life and how it connects to the concepts raised throughout the book.
I felt most disappointed by Kendi’s claim that you can practice racism against white people. For example, in the section of the book where he addresses colorism, he writes that “I hardly realized my own racist hypocrisy: I was turning the color hierarchy upside down, but the color hierarchy remained. Dark people degraded and alienated Light people with names: light bright, high yellow, redbone.” Kendi essentially equates dark-skinned people’s jokes about light-skinned people to racism, which ignores the difference between prejudice and racism and how someone making jokes about a light-skinned person does not carry the same repercussions at all as opposed to the entrenched colorism against dark-skinned people that permeates society. He also dedicates a whole chapter titled “White” that argues that stereotyping white people is colluding in anti-Black racism which seemed like such a flawed argument, as my friend Bri tweets about here and writer Melanie Curry dispels in this succinct article about reverse racism, which is not a thing. He goes on to write that people who make arguments similar to those of Curry disregard Black people's power, which I found a lackluster thought process. Yes, Black people and people of color can accumulate power and use it in racist ways against fellow Black people and people of color, but this presence of power still exists within a system of white supremacy, so you can both possess power and be marginalized within the greater landscape of white supremacist racism.
While I feel glad that this book’s rise in popularity will prompt people to take more explicit action against racism, I feel somewhat distressed that people may equate prejudice against white people to racism against Black people and people of color. As Goodreads user Raphael Nelson writes in his review,
How to Be an Antiracist does appear to have a white audience in mind in certain sections (e.g., the “White” chapter) and does not explore the deeper reasons why Black people and people of color may have prejudice against white people. For those interested in more reading on this topic, I’d highly recommend
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge,
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, and
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. Again, I feel grateful for a lot of Kendi’s insights, such as his thoughts on internalized racism and its effects, though I’d definitely hesitate to recommend this book on its own, even though that opinion will most likely provoke some reactions.
Rating: really liked it
It is only fitting that this book is being released after the past several weeks of racists attacks by politicians and mass shootings in the name of White Supremacy. After witnessing these acts many Americans will say "I'm not like that, I'm not a racist. I don't have a racist bone in my body". Ibram Kendi’s newest book addresses that mindset. In his follow up to Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Kendi argues that the dichotomy of either being a
racist or
not a racist is a false one. We must choose to be
racist or
antiracist. Kendi tells the reader how to be an antiracist by using history and his own biography. He chronicles his own personal evolution of espousing racist ideas at a young age to his transformation as an adult.
Kendi places himself amongst the five individuals that he profiles in
Stamped and in turn challenges us to question our own racist views that we all espouse. This is an extremely personal book not just from the author’s standpoint but from my own. Before reading his last book
Stamped from the Beginning, I would have considered myself “not a racist” but realized as I read "Stamped" that I held many assimilationist views. I also believed that I couldn’t be a racist because I am Black. In this book, one of Kendi’s most effective chapters dispels the myth that Blacks can’t be racist because they are a racial minority. He effectively shows that Blacks hold racist views of other Blacks which have been passed down to us by racist Whites. Ultimately he argues that people of all races (White, Black, Latinx, Asian, Native American, etc.) can be racists. But the good news is that being racist is not set in stone. Kendi tells us that we can change and become antiracist. Read his book so you can figure out how. Just like
Stamped from the Beginning,
How to Be An Antiracist has changed my thinking for the better.
Overall, Kendi’s writing is amazing and beautiful. I especially loved his use of transitions between chapters, it makes the book hard to put down.
Thanks to One World and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. #HowToBeAnAntiracist #NetGalleyFavorite Quotes:
"The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it-and then dismantle it."
"THE GOOD NEWS is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be racist one minute and antiracist the next. What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what-not who-we are."
"I no longer believe a Black person cannot be racist."
"A racist idea is any idea that suggests one racial group is inferior or superior to another racial group in any way."Review is also posted on Medium: https://medium.com/ballasts-for-the-m...
Rating: really liked it
It´s not enough to just one deem oneself no racist, it´s the action, self-reflecting, changing habits, thoughts, ideologies, and activism that matters.
Some of the main points:
Showing that each ethnic group can be racist, not just white people.
Defining the important term of anti racist instead of just being not racist, leading to active improvement instead of passive stagnation and thinking that just believing is enough.
Rethinking many of the stereotypes and prejudices regarding how society deals with established norms.
Trying to open new ways of thinking about race and identify.
Integrating feminism and LGBTQ.
Critical self reflection, introspection, self analysis, considering were the own blind spots may lie.
The irony of white supremacy against other white people they don´t like.
Kendi is in a special position, he does amazing research, lives in a moment where many other, progressive authors spread positive ideas he can work with, and culminates it to some of the best writing about one of the crucial themes of the 21st century.
Some reviewers may mock that there are no real solutions offered, just well argued tips, personal experiences, and self-improvement manuals, but that´s unfair. I would rather say that there is, at the moment, just no real solution, it´s a question of time and cultural evolution. The people who would really have to read this work won´t and the readers that are already active and trying to do something can get better in their endeavors, but breeding new and better epigenetic traits just takes time.
The criticism is especially unfair too because Kendi offers much of himself, very personal and intimate details, to provide enough examples and illustrative material, and that´s always coming with the problem of the replication crisis. It worked well for one person, ok, but what about me? And the billions of others, what about them. But it´s meant as an example to show that everyone can be successful in self detecting potential racism bombs inside one´s mindset.
There is not much new under the sun, so most of the ideas have already been thought, but it´s Kendi´s enthusiasm and deep, honest belief in a real option for change that makes this book special. It´s also something for the more optimistic, emotional, humanities focused readers, because it doesn´t really focus on meta, but on the personal level.
There is a bit of a contradiction between Kendi´s other work Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
and this one.
Because the sheer description of the extent and causes of the dilemma seem so overwhelmingly daunting, it subjectively seems as if Kendi is trying to spread optimism and hope, although the current state of the affairs around the world is more than intimidating.
Old pessimist that I am, I prefer the direct in your face approach of books like 2 of the best current nonfiction describing the problems this book tries to solve.
DiAngelo Robin´s White Fragility
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
and Eddo Lodge Reni´s Why I am no longer talking to white people about race
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
They both show the not so obvious, hidden prejudices, resentments, and all the evil isms growing on this and similar ground, their mechanisms, and sad real life examples.
Not giving real hope, but sensitizing for forgotten, subconsciously working problems. Subjectively, I deem understanding the meta problems more important than personal growth (because just the ones willing to change will go through this difficult process), while a change in politics affects everyone, no matter what she/he thinks, but this also has to start at a point with each individual. And that´s where How to be an Antiracist shines.
I am absolutely not sure if this is ingenious or a bit overhyped, I simply don´t know enough about this extremely complex and new contexts, but everything enabling an open debate is worth it. The only problem and small criticism I have is that the true, great ideas of how to improve one´s mentality are mixed up with some unnecessary, possibly not standing the test of time, ideas, that are based on subjective opinion and own thesis. Especially the difference between white on black racism vs black on white racism, not to forget the hundreds of varieties not mentioned. Without that, it would have been better, because that´s still an open field of study, happening at the moment, involving statistics, sociology, psychology, politics, economics, and similar stuff, just far too complex and interwoven to come up with one solution or explanation and this could lead to confusion and misunderstandings and it could be used to criticize this amazing work.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrim...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultura...
Rating: really liked it
Some cultures mandate that rape victims must be killed and adulterers stoned; that females shouldn't be educated, drive, or show their faces in public. Some cultures revere nature and strive to live in harmony with it while others endeavor to control it down to the chromosomal level and/or pollute indiscriminately. Some produce the Magna Carta and Shakespeare and others dissolve into violence and a failed state. Despite these self-evident facts, Ibram Kendi's [postmodern] foundational principle is that we must regard all cultures as equal. Even the countless articles about corporate and school cultures indicate that some are unhealthy; some lead to poor performance; others seem to foster happiness and productivity. No, all cultures are decidedly not equal.
Kendi recants his youthful denunciations of promiscuity and teen pregnancy, drug dealing and gun violence in the Black community. Astonishingly, he still regards these as features of Black culture, but now believes he was influenced [brainwashed] by white supremacy culture to regard them negatively. He was right the first time: the practices he mentions are harmful because they prevent individuals from realizing their potential and living purposeful lives that contribute to the common good. The most base and venial behaviors, self-indulgence [see seven deadly sins] have been denounced for millennia as anti-social. Conversely, a cross-cultural regard for the virtuous and true, courageous self-sacrifice for the benefit of others and for truth has endured until this quite recent and objectionable postmodern posture (to which no one can truly subscribe) that no behavior or quality should be regarded as superior to another. It is universally agreed that one may play the flute well or poorly. Similarly, one can conduct one's life well or poorly.
Kendi's other significant assertion is that we must only regard individuals as such rather than individuals as members of groups, yet he refers to Black people as a group consistently. We cannot ignore statistics. While they can be used to distort, they can also be quite revelatory when specific categories are applied. Kendi writes "Since assimilationists posit cultural and behavioral hierarchy, assimilationist policies and programs are geared toward developing, civilizing and integrating a racial group (to distinguish from programs that uplift individuals)," which implies the policies that target Black and economically disadvantaged groups are misguided. Kendi repeats this delineation between group and individual many times and contradicts himself just as often as he vacillates between group and individual causes and effects, "not because I believe Blackness...is a meaningful scientific category but because our societies, our policies, our ideas, our histories, and our cultures have rendered race and made it matter." Kendi ratifies the existence of the category while simultaneously urging its deconstruction.
Kendi concedes that it took time for him to truly come to terms with the diversity within the group encompassed by the term Black. The life experience of a person of African ancestry whose ancestors were free men and women in 18th century Boston and who currently occupies the top socio-economic quintile is different from one whose African American ancestors didn't have the means and/or wherewithal to leave the Deep South after historical enslavement [McMillan Cottom's "black black"]. Both groups, however, diverge from the experience of 20th or 21st century immigrants and their descendants from the West Indies, Africa and the Americas ["ethnic black"] who enjoy the "migrant advantage" (and comprise 2/3 of the Black students in the Ivy League, which Kendi doesn't mention). Race is a baseless social construct, but ancestry does have genetic (and epigenetic) roots. A Bantu is genetically distinct from a Mbuti.
Kendi's insistence on referring to the Latinx category is equally problematic. The Hispanic category didn't exist for census purposes until 1970. Until then, Mexican Americans, for example, were simply counted as White. There is little beyond shared humanity to connect a German-Chilean oligarch with an impoverished indigenous Quechua and an Afro-Cuban loyal to the revolution in La Habana. Within this absurd non-category, predominant skin tones range from alabaster to eggplant, heights from towering to well under five feet. They may not share a common language, foods, music, literature, etc. The idea that these can somehow share a category when they arrive in the USA is laughably ignorant and begs for subdivision to evaluate obstacles to progress.
Like many in the Critical Race Theory camp, Kendi attributes disparities in rates of school discipline and incarceration between White and Black to racism, an unexamined causation. As an educator, when I read Kendi's descriptions of his behavior as a student, I see a precociously and unpleasantly oppositional and defiant kid. Wherefore the anger at so young an age? A preternatural sense of injustice at the age of seven --or a character flaw? Wrath is one of those seven deadlies... Similarly, we are meant to consider the racism exposed by incarceration of African American males at five times the rate of whites. It's widely held as a given that racism is a factor. However, the FBI statistics indicate that the perpetrators of over half of all homicides committed in the USA are Black males, who constitute just 6% of the population. That is one egregious statistic not often exposed because it challenges the prevailing narrative. Kendi might also take a look at Harvard Law Review's May 2018 article on the role of Black politicians in striving to increase policing in their communities after too many years of insufficient police presence.
Kendi is at his best when he instructs us lovingly regarding how to be antiracist. Thankfully, he departs from DiAngelos's incendiary, horrifying and irrational declarations in the wretched White Fragility. He counters the assertion that Blacks "can't be racist because Black people don't have 'institutional power'" first by confessing his own racial biases and second by refusing to "strip Black policymakers and managers of all their power." To do otherwise is pernicious: "Racist ideas make Black people believe White people have all the power, elevating them to gods." (See that Harvard Law Review article cited above).
Critical race and gender theory value personal experience more than empiricism. See See Harvard Law Record on Critical Race Theory: http://hlrecord.org/racism-justified-... In keeping with that premise, Kendi ends the book by telling us that the metaphorically cancerous reading about and recalling racist experiences transformed into physical cancer for him and his family. Perhaps, perhaps not. Kendi's book may be worth a read, but only with a critical and informed eye.
The hundreds of hours I've spent with webinars, articles, and books on eliminating racism leads me to question whether we are headed for re-segregation. Kendi insists that "Through lynching Black cultures, integrationists are, in the end, more harmful to Black bodies than segregationists are." Add this to essays by Dr. Bettina Love [White educators "spirit murder Black children"], Jamilah Pitts, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad and others [at least watch the last 5 minutes of this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJZ3R... ]; the many universities creating living learning communities [dorms] just for Blacks; the disproportionate success of graduates of U.S. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, who comprise 40% of the Black members of US Congress, 12% Black CEOs, 40% Black engineers, 50% Black lawyers, 80% Black judges. Does the support of homogeneous communities outweigh the benefits of diversity? Can we ever get live together when we can't get along with our own family members? Right now, the indicators are depressingly negative.
Rating: really liked it
Someone lent this to me because they found it really useful and resourceful for thinking about antiracism especially in the context of doing organizing. I did enjoy the reading the book but I also think personally I had been exposed to a lot of these same ideas already, especially by women of color activists/organizers. So while I think it's a really good book for anyone still trying to gleam out their own concepts of race and how to actively engage with racism, I didn't come away with that much reading this. Which I personally think is a positive and shows what a great job people who engage in antiracism work have been doing! I know Kendi is less hopeful about the power of education/awareness and I agree that it has limitations when it comes to just creating positive outcomes but I think it's really important work for allies to help them engage in a helpful and fruitful manner. I actually also really liked the way Kendi traces his own evolution over time with regards to race and I think its quite helpful for making it easier for readers to engage with their own thinking on race without feeling the typical shame and defensive people can face when confronting their own ideology on race. Anyway overall I really think it's a good read and would definitely recommend it to people who at this moment are also trying to figure out their own thinking on race and the best ways on engaging to help reduce the racial disparities rampant in the US.
Rating: really liked it
I listened to this book on audio and it is narrated by the author, so I highly recommend that format. Although I fully intend to buy a physical copy in order to tab it up for future reference as well.
This is an excellent book that covers not only the history of racism in the United States, but also both the individual responsibility and systemic responsibility for racist ideals in society. I was pleasantly surprised by how intersectional it is as well, as it discusses intersections of ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. The author balances both his justified anger and his desire to teach by leaning in to the reader and sharing his own experiences with his own racist ideas and learning throughout the years. The prevailing theme is that an individual can be both racist and antiracist depending on their behavior at any given moment, and that the work, both individually and on a policy level, is never finished. Kendi shows how pervasive racism is in society, while also giving a sense of hope and guidance about how we as individuals can work to change the policies that allow it to continue to exist.
Rating: really liked it
I'll start off with a mea culpa: I came to this book with some cynicism. Some of that due to my very bad experience with the execrable White Fragility, a gross book that demeans Black people, generalizes about White people, and that sadly has a similar level of popularity. Some of my cynicism was also due to my admiration for Coleman Hughes, a Black contrarian who wrote a pretty negative review of it.
Oh how wrong I was. I loved this book. I had issues with some of its stances, but by the time I finished this book, those issues were inconsequential. At least when it comes down to my overall positive regard for it as both a personal story and a call for change. I may disagree with my allies on some topics, but an ally is still an ally. Much more importantly, I may disagree with certain parts of this book, but other parts have literally changed how I will be looking at racism and activism from here on. You can disagree with a friend on certain things, but you can still respect where they're coming from. This book is my friend.
I loved that How to Be an Antiracist is not specifically designed to educate only White people! This book is having a conversation with
all races. Including White people in America, of course. Whites are in many ways a central focus. But it is a split focus because Kendi is also addressing his own race. He is all about uplifting Black American culture. But he is also not shy about critiquing Blacks who have upheld systems of white supremacy and racist policy, racist thought, racist reactions. Including himself. Happily, he critiques from a place of love and admiration. No reactionary critique of common targets like "inner city" violence, hip hop culture and rap music, Black separatism. His critiques are based on whether or not a person - or a policy - upholds inequity.
Any person or policy. The book is a great tool for those who want to understand and address the systemic inequities forced upon Black communities (and many others) and the harm done by generations of White policy makers (and those who abetted them).
The writing is simple. Basic, even. Definitions are stated and then restated. The repetition can be a bit much! But Kendi is educating people. Repetition is important when teaching. This is not my favorite style of writing but guidebooks rarely feature exciting prose. What is exciting are the ideas.
The best sort of travel books feature the writers themselves, going on a journey. And so this travel book, this guidebook, features the journey that Kendi himself went on to become an antiracist. We learn a lot about him, step by step. He literalizes the personal made political.
As a mixed-race queer guy who is trying to support the implementation of antiracist policies at my workplace, this book really helped me out. That may sound like a limp way to end this so-called review, but it's also the basic truth. I read it for a work book club, a pleasant activity in my weekly work load - work that often involves heavy emotions, oppressed communities, poverty, disease, death. Despite its anger, this book often functioned as a sort of healing tonic for all of that. Looking forward is a healing activity. Some of these ideas have resonated with me in ways that I hope will impact my agency's push for positive change, internally and externally, personally and professionally. Lots of important lessons to be learned here. Everything is a work in progress.
PROGRESS NOTES
✍ What I particularly loved:
- Kendi's personal story. awesome to read about him growing up, and all about his parents' lives
- the opportunity to re-examine my own definitions of "racist" and "racism". Kendi has a surprising stance on this that challenges me, in a good way. I'm more comfortable with the idea that racism = prejudice + power (i.e. Blacks cannot be considered racist in the current U.S. system). Kendi is not so comfortable with that definition; he's more old school: racism can be displayed by any race (including internalized racism, of course).
- segregation vs. assimilation vs. antiracism: feels so true. we talk about this during work trainings
- the perspective on biological racism and the idea that "race" is both a construct and a reality. too often people choose one or the other when both can be true
- history re. slavery and how there are two different eras of slavery: multiracial slavery across all ethnicities, followed by a focused enslavement of Africans
- history re. how the term "microagression" came about
- crime rates linked to unemployment rates rather than crime rates linked to demographics. YES!
- history re. the SAT. I would really like to read a whole book on why standardized testing is problematic. such an unknown to me. I'm reminded about how many of my peers and I are committed to the idea of hiring people based on life experiences rather than on college degrees. the idea of there being a standardized assessment of intelligence and therefore capability has always been suspect to me.
- Kendi's focus on individuals not groups is admirable. totally with him on that
- I'm an admirer of the Black contrarian John McWhorter but oh boy Kendi is not! Had to chuckle when Kendi reminded me of McWhorter's foolish statement that the U.S. was now post-racial since Obama was elected. Oh John, I love you but you're never gonna live that one down.
- had to LOL at Kendi's comparison of Blacks bleaching their skin with Whites using tanning beds! Not sure I agree but I love the comparison, mainly because I can't stand either ridiculous activity. pale is beautiful, dark is beautiful, right?
- the back to back chapters WHITE and BLACK are incredible. so eye-opening and powerful. I admire how Kendi positions his own changing feelings, his mistakes and his epiphanies, as a battle between anti-Black racism, anti-White racism, and antiracism. the humility on display and the willingness to describe his mistakes are so real. I love how anti-White Fragility/Robin DiAngelo these chapters are, with his attack on "conflating the entire race of White people with racist power". Even more, I really love how he's challenged me to reject my own ideas on how Blacks can't be racist due to lacking systemic power because then I am actually, literally, saying that Black people don't have power enough to be racist against other Black people - for example, by supporting institutionalized racism and racist processes (e.g. certain voter suppression tactics). Which is also, even more importantly, ignoring the power that many Black people have attained in this country. And that is then...
disempowering Black people and their many continuing accomplishments. Which is not something I will be doing from now on. Didn't expect this book to so fully shift my paradigm on that definition.
- I should also note that the above ideas are by no means Kendi defending the problematic phrase "reverse racism" - a phrase which so far has yet to appear. The focus is mainly on how Blacks can also oppress other Blacks due to internalized racism, and capitulation to and support of white supremacist structures. Happily, there is nothing in these chapters admonishing Black people to be nicer to White people, as some fools on Twitter appear to think.
- Interesting take on Elizabeth Warren's definition of capitalism! Basically he is saying that what she is espousing - capitalism should have fair market rules and benefits - is not actually "capitalism" but is something else entirely, a new thing that has yet to exist. I don't really agree, but I love the argument, it's eye-opening.
- very enjoyable review of classic intersectionalism. glad that chapter didn't delve too deeply into modern intersectionalism (I have issues with it. or maybe just issues lol). LOVED the number of times my idol Audre Lorde was mentioned in this and the following chapter.
- super inspiring take on queer antiracism. appreciated that Kendi owned his prior homophobia. always nice to see straight men address this topic & be allies. And I really respect that Kendi identifies as a queer antiracist. Reminds me of some of my own very crush-worthy straight friends. Be still my beating heart! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
- fascinating chapter titled FAILURE that focuses on the idea that the "race problem" is rooted in "powerful self-interest" and not in hate or ignorance. This is institutional versus individual racism. Kendi posits that a true activist wields power and creates or forces policy change, and that a demonstration is weaker than a protest. He argues that reaching hearts & minds, educating racists out of ignorance, is not the logical first step in creating change. Creating policy that forces change and upends racist structures is the true path. Of course this echoes MLK's own thoughts. I'm reminded of Van Jones' successful work to have the Trump White House and the Republican-led Senate approve criminal justice reform legislation via the First Step Act. This was a particularly powerful and illuminating chapter.
-Emotional and moving last couple chapters as he focuses on the anger leading to action springing from the murder of Trayvon Martin, and on how his and his wife's dual cancer diagnoses compelled him to look at racist policies as a cancer and so to refocus away from confronting individual racism and towards bringing down institutional racism and the policies that support it.
What I didn't love so much/food for thought:
- Kendi's pushing back on "microagression". Is it simply racist abuse and should be called out as such? I dunno. I don't love the idea but I don't hate it? food for thought.
- he's pretty judgmental regarding his parents' decision to take "mainstream" jobs instead of remaining activists
- I'm really challenged by the idea of "cultural relativity" being the essence of cultural antiracism. despite being a committed multiculturalist, I still think there are norms that all cultures must ascribe to, at least to be considered cultures that truly respect their people. Norms around treatment of women, children and norms around freedom of movement, expression. etc. Cultural relativity will often excuse oppressive behavior in its perhaps too-liberal attempt to not be seen as racist.
- not in love with this quote:
"As long as the mind oppresses the oppressed by thinking their oppressive environment has retarded their behavior, the mind can never be antiracist." I don't think it makes complete sense to not recognize that oppressive environments often do not encourage growth. Hard to think outside of the box when you are struggling to survive in that box. But it's also true that challenging environments can often produce vital communities, art, individuals, music, movements. Hmm, more food for thought.
- I don't think capitalism & racism are necessarily conjoined twins (love the metaphor though, one he uses poetically throughout the chapter). I guess I'm not an anticapitalist? I subscribe to Warren's ideals on what capitalism could be.
- Some mixed feelings about how Kendi is so against integration efforts.
When thinking back on on Kendi's central position that everything should be considered as either racist or antiracist, I'm surprised to realize that despite how much I admired this book, I still don't buy into that thesis. I don't think every idea (or policy or practice or activity or action) is either antiracist or racist. I just don't believe in such reductive binaries. And I refuse to believe that everything is always about or impacts race. Even though this is one of his foundational ideas, I'm also somewhat surprised that Kendi himself engages in this sort of binary thinking e.g. check out the last quote I included, my favorite one.I don't want to end on a critical note because overall I loved this book, so here's some
Great quotes:
"Black people are apparently responsible for calming down the fears of violent cops in the way women are supposedly responsible for calming the sexual desires of male rapists. If we don't, then we are blamed for our own assaults, our own deaths."
"One of racism's harms is the way it falls on the unexceptional Black person who is asked to be extraordinary just to survive - and, even worse, the Black screwup who faces the abyss after one error, while the White screwup is handed second chances and empathy."
"Antiracism means separating the idea of a culture from the idea of behavior. Culture defines a group tradition that a particular racial group might share but that is not shared among all individuals in that racial group or among all racial groups."
"White racists do not want to define racial hierarchy or policies that yield racial inequities as racist. To do so would be to define their ideas and policies as racist."
"Like every other racist idea, the powerless defense underestimates Black people and overestimates White people. It erases the small amount of Black power and expands the already expansive reach of White power."
"The pathological ghetto made pathological people, assimilationists say. To be antiracist is to say the political and economic conditions, not the people, in poor Black neighborhoods are pathological. Pathological conditions are making the residents sicker and poorer while they strive to survive and thrive, while they invent and reinvent cultures and behaviors that may be different but never inferior to those of residents in richer neighborhoods."and my favorite quote:
"To be antiracist is to recognize there is no such thing as the 'real world,' only real worlds, multiple worldviews."
Rating: really liked it
Disclaimer: In no way am I trying to undermine what the Black community has gone through. I can’t fully judge the content in this book because I haven’t experienced the racism, discrimination, and prejudice that Black people go through every day. These are just my opinions on the book itself,
not the topic. To find ways to support Black Lives Matter, visit this website.
This book is important. In a world where just sitting back and letting racism go its own way is “not racist,” it’s essential to spread awareness about the internalized prejudices we have. This was one of the author’s best points-- “not racist” doesn’t mean antiracist. “Not racist” implies sitting back and not doing anything about racist policies, but maintaining that you aren’t racist just because you haven’t called anyone slurs. But that’s actually racist, because you’re not doing anything about racist policies, which allows them to spread.
Another great point that stood out to me was when the author talked about how anyone can be racist. Everyone can have some prejudice inside them, and by saying they can’t just because they don’t have power (ex. “Black people can’t be racist”), you’re actually undermining them further.
My favorite chapter was the section on gender and how being antiracist means being feminist and vice versa.
I highlighted so much in this book. There were so many little things the author pointed out that I hadn’t realized before, or hadn’t dedicated much thought to. The little nuggets of wisdom were excellent.
However, I sometimes felt like this book tried to do too much. It was at once a biography, a history lesson, and a how-to guide. In my opinion, the most helpful part would have been the how-to section (how to be an antiracist) because it would show us what we should be doing. But these parts were very short and I didn’t feel like they actually had much substance. If the aim of this book was to teach us history, it would have been better, but I came to learn how to be an antiracist, and it fell short there.
I was expecting this to cover more races, too. It mostly focused on the Black community with the term Latinx thrown in occasionally just as a statistic. Obviously this is extremely important and needs a lot of attention, but the title was kind of misleading. I’m not taking off any stars because of this--there wasn’t a problem with it, necessarily, I was just expecting something different, and I wanted to let people know before they started reading.
In the end, I just don’t feel like stereotyping white people is as big of a deal as racism against Black people, but the author seems to phrase it that way. White and lighter-skinned people will automatically have an advantage in society and will actually benefit due to racism, so saying that reverse racism is as big of a problem as racism is a flawed argument, in my opinion.
There was an entire chapter on Light vs. Dark within the Black community, which included statistics. My main question was about where the cutoff was. What defines “Light?” What defines “Dark?” And how, exactly, do you measure that?
The author attempts to address everyone who is interested in becoming an antiracist, and as an effect, the audience is unclear. Sometimes he addresses the Black community, sometimes I’m not really sure who he’s talking to. I would have preferred if he picked one audience and stayed with it. This book tried to be a sweeping assessment of racism, but it just felt like it was spread out really thin.
Finally, there was one part that made me kind of uncomfortable. It was the scene where the author and his friends were celebrating the acquittal of O.J. Simpson. They were talking about all the innocent Black people who had been accused of crimes they didn’t commit and how the release of Simpson was justice for that, but that logic doesn’t make sense to me. Obviously it’s terrible that innocent people are being killed and arrested just because of the color of their skin, but it doesn’t feel right to let off a person who is actually guilty, and (correct me if I’m wrong) Simpson has committed many crimes. I haven’t done much research on this topic, so I’m not the most knowledgeable, but this part hit me the wrong way.
All in all, this book helps raise awareness about internalized racism, making it a very important read. I just thought that the structure was a bit messy and it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be and who it wanted to address.
3.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley.
Shortly after I finished this book, I put a quote from it up on the board in my classroom. At one point, Kendi argues that white supremacy is also anti-white and a form of genocide on whites. This is in addition to the attacks on non-whites. The interesting thing is that the black students (I use black because not all of the students are American citizens) were all nodding their heads, and the while students were all WTF.
But that idea of challenge of re-defining, defining, and expanding terms is, in part, the point of this excellent book.
Kendi contends that “not racist” isn’t the term we should be using, that it is a true neutral a phrase, too defensive and lets people who say it off. He says the term that is the opposite of racism is anti-racism, and that is what we all should aim to be. He includes himself in this, well for lack of a better term quest, and the book is also a chronicle of his becoming an antiracist.
While reading this, I kept thing of Coates’ Between the World and Me, and in many ways this book is a letter to all the world. For Kendi also details intersectional anti-racism, applying not only to feminism but also support of the LGBTQ community as well as classism (this is where the white supremacy being anti-white comes in).
He also dissects and challenges terms and ideas – such as his discussion about microaggressions or the connection between racism and power. He challenges you, as he challenges himself, to become antiracist.
Rating: really liked it
I’m going to need some time to properly review this but for now, GO READ THIS BOOK!!
Rating: really liked it
The entire book is powerful - valuable - informative - engaging - straight to the point -
I own it....and am keeping it.
I purchased these books… ( knowing nothing specific)....
the Audio and physical book ....
knowing I was going to have a book discussion.
I was PLEASANTLY surprised how much I enjoyed every moment of it! ( Cheri....thank you, to you too, for encouraging me to read it: Ali and Adam had already started their reading). I jumped right in.
Discussing this book (and others on this topic), with my daughter and her husband is part of my daily ‘to-do’s now...
Ha....
.....including a conversation on the phone today...while I was out in the woods listening to the audiobook...
I had to stop walking - stand very still - otherwise I was going to lose phone reception...for an hour!!!! Geeee a girl might need to pee before I making it back to the car - after a 8.5 mile hike.
Lazy reviews from me today......
but....
I want to share one thing....
THE LAST CHAPTER WAS SOOOOOOO POWERFUL.
I WANTED TO CRY....MY ENTIRE BODY WAS REACTING!!!!!
It’s a personal heart- wrenching story.....connecting a bigger heart wrenching story. I FELT THE PURPOSE. I GOT THE POINT. I BUY THE THEORY!
Part of it made me ached - deeply- with sadness -
The other part, (of the same chapter), took me to a new universe.
These books about racism, inequality, are transforming me. I kid you not.
Our entire family are committed to NOT BEING RACIST...TO DOING WHAT WE CAN TO TRANSFORMING this issue ....
And....
Looking at the difference between individual racism vs. policy racism is ( forgive me?), is new to me. I’ll continue to engage in the conversation....
Keep learning ....and keep being on the right side of justice.
I’m sooooo sorry soooo many black people have suffered!!! REALLY SUFFERED......been treated unfairly!!!{
I want to end this nonsense about skin color, class, and being different....
My God...ENOUGH!!!
This book ‘is/was’ an eye opening education for me about POLICY RACISM.
Ok...one more thing....then a shower & pool please. I’m stinky.
I must say something about THE AUTHOR....
I LOVED HIM. I TRUSTED HIM!
Ibram X. Kendi......is in my heart - now - forever!
Thank you, Ibram.... VERY HELPFUL BOOK.
Rating: really liked it
So great. What an amazing human Kendi is. His ability to reflect on his own racist actions and thoughts is profound. I love his approach and think his insights are fantastic. The use of memoir with the definitions of types of racism and antiracism are really smart. I really enjoyed this book, though if you’ve read Stamped from the Beginning (his previous book) you may find this one redundant or slightly more elementary. If you haven’t attempted Stamped because it’s intimidating this might be a better place to start.
Rating: really liked it
Dancing in the Street
I stopped to ask an elderly black man
that was walking down the street
In a small southern town
“Are you a Jehovah’s Witness?”
“Why, yes, I am.”
He was not wearing a suit, nor a tie.
Nor did he carry a briefcase.
I just knew because I used to be one of them.
“I have always admired the Jehovah’s Witnesses,
They are antiracists,
and mingled with one another. “
“Here in the South
we have separate congregations.”
I was disillusioned.
This was in the late 90s,
Even schools were integrated.
We dyed or bleached our hair.
We permed or even straightened it.
Just to change that which
we did not like in us.
We laid out in the sun
Or on tanning beds.
Some of us even
bleached our skin.
The 60s freed us all
but only for a while.
Because in our racist society
We are not allowed
to be ourselves.
Her mother was half Cherokee,
Her daughter’s skin
a warm brown.
It was like her grandmother’s
Her mother declared
And she was very proud.
Then she met a Cherokee
And fell in love.
And her mother said,
“He is too dark for you.
What will people say?”
Shades of color mattered.
“I bet you can’t answer every
question with the word ‘chocolate.’”
“Yes, I can.” I said.”
“What is your favorite cake?”
“Chocolate.”
“What is your favorite ice cream?”
“Chocolate.”
“What color of boys do you like?
“Chocolate.” I giggled.
My brother is now an antiracist.
Just as am I.
My friend told me this story,
Of walking down a sidewalk
In Tulsa:
“John and I were walking
down a sidewalk in Tulsa,
and it wasn’t long ago.
An elderly black man was
walking towards us
When he was close enough,
he stepped off the sidewalk
to let us pass by.”
Shocked, they just
continued walking.
Knowing this now,
I would be prepared,
If it ever happened to me.
I would step off the sidewalk,
too,
and soon we would be
dancing in the street.
The above writing came to me as I was reading this book, but I don't consider it a great review of this book, and now I am rereading it in order to take notes.
I cana say this about it so far: It is the best book that If have read on racism. I would give it ten stars, if I could.
I have had people tell me that I should be friends with racist because thdy have other good qualities or that I should be tolerant. I don't see that happening. I had a Buddhist monk once tell me that he could not listen to vulgar words, and I can't listen to racism. It is immoral. Would someone who claims to be a Christan be friends with a criminal, a murderer? Does not their Bible say to not be unevenly yoked with unbelievers? or are they friends with these people because they desire to be tolerant? And isn't their asking for tolerance just an excuse to continue to be racist? Shaming us for not accepting them? Can an antiracist really be friendws with a racist? And what does it say about them if they do? To me it says that it is okay for you to be a racist.
Rating: really liked it
There is so much in Kendi’s book that is useful and challenging.
"One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist” neutrality is a mask for racism."
"THIS BOOK IS ultimately about the basic struggle we’re all in, the struggle to be fully human and to see that others are fully human."
"The source of racist ideas was not ignorance and hate, but self-interest."
"The language used by the forty-fifth president of the United States offers a clear example of how this sort of racist language and thinking works. Long before he became president, Donald Trump liked to say, “Laziness is a trait in Blacks.” When he decided to run for president, his plan for making America great again: defaming Latinx immigrants as mostly criminals and rapists and demanding billions for a border wall to block them. He promised “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Once he became president, he routinely called his Black critics “stupid.” He claimed immigrants from Haiti “all have AIDS,” while praising White supremacists as “very fine people” in the summer of 2017. Through it all, whenever someone pointed out the obvious, Trump responded with variations on a familiar refrain: “No, no. I’m not a racist. I’m the least racist person that you have ever interviewed,” that “you’ve ever met,” that “you’ve ever encountered.” Trump’s behavior may be exceptional, but his denials are normal. When racist ideas resound, denials that those ideas are racist typically follow. When racist policies resound, denials that those policies are racist also follow. Denial is the heartbeat of racism, beating across ideologies, races, and nations. It is beating within us. Many of us who strongly call out Trump’s racist ideas will strongly deny our own."
And here is the nub of what Kendi is getting at: we have trouble seeing ourselves for what we are. (This may be a particular problem of liberal (or should I say progressive) white people who are often looking to have their friends of color reassure them of their lack of racism.
Kendi states the situation succinctly: "What’s the problem with being “not racist”? It is a claim that signifies neutrality: “I am not a racist, but neither am I aggressively against racism.” But there is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of “racist” isn’t “not racist.” It is “antiracist.” What’s the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an antiracist."
It may be because Kendi is black; or it may be because racism against blacks is a particular feature (both historically and now) of the USA. But other forms of racism and related prejudices: Against Asians, Indigenous peoples; Latin Americans; Muslims; Jews; Irish; Italians; etc.
"I do not regret seeing myself as black at such a young age. I still see myself as black. Even though race is not a strong biological category and the way in which we see race is mostly a mirage, society dictates that race is important."
"Black people are constantly forced down by bad policy and ordered to uplift themselves again through good behavior."
"We didn’t attend the march in Washington that year but we cheered enthusiastically as the O.J. Simpson verdict was read. My father recalls that his white coworkers were baffled by the verdict and he and the other black workers had to excuse themselves to celebrate in another room. It’s not that we thought he was innocent of murder, but we felt that the justice system was far more corrupt. We wanted revenge for the beating of Rodney just four years earlier. We wanted justice for all the unarmed minorities who were beaten by cops on a daily basis."
Here is where I have the most difficulty with Kendi: He says: "I represent only myself. If the judges draw conclusions about millions of Black people based on how I act, then they, not I, not Black people, have a problem. They are responsible for their racist ideas; I am not. I am responsible for my racist ideas; they are not. To be antiracist is to let me be me, be myself, be my imperfect self."
And ---
"I do not represent black people. White individuals do not represent white people." Yet, he seems to come close to solipsism as he believes his experiences ARE always ones that can be generalized for a complete view of racism. Further, he takes this later in the book to pushing an analogy between racism and cancer.
"I HAD TROUBLE separating Sadiqa’s cancer from the racism I studied. The two consumed my life over the final months of 2013 and during the better part of 2014 and 2015."
"OUR WORLD IS suffering from metastatic cancer. Stage 4. Racism has spread to nearly every part of the body politic, intersecting with bigotry of all kinds, justifying all kinds of inequities by victim blaming; heightening exploitation and misplaced hate; spurring mass shootings, arms races, and demagogues who polarize nations; shutting down essential organs of democracy; and threatening the life of human society with nuclear war and climate change. In the United States, the metastatic cancer has been spreading, contracting, and threatening to kill the American body as it nearly did before its birth, as it nearly did during its Civil War."
Having criticized the analogy, I do not dispute his assessment of the threat of racism and its ability to destroy much of what we hold dear about American life, democracy and common values. So I will close with one of Kendi’s uplifting statements:
"THE GOOD NEWS is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be a racist one minute and an antiracist the next. What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what—not who—we are. I used to be racist most of the time. I am changing. I am no longer identifying with racists by claiming to be “not racist.” I am no longer speaking through the mask of racial neutrality. I am no longer manipulated by racist ideas to see racial groups as problems. I no longer believe a Black person cannot be racist. I am no longer policing my every action around an imagined White or Black judge, trying to convince White people of my equal humanity, trying to convince Black people I am representing the race well. I no longer care about how the actions of other Black individuals reflect on me, since none of us are race representatives, nor is any individual responsible for someone else’s racist ideas."
Rating: really liked it
Kendi's theme is that anti racism can not be achieved in society by well intentioned people observing people of colot's success and changing their racist ideas to make society more equal. It can only come through policy change. Each individual black person has felt the onus to be an upstanding citizen, as if the power of equity rests on their shoulders. Each person's actions will lead to equality or nonequality. This notion is wrongheaded and has been promulgated by studies from the thirties and forties and even earlier.
As Kendi points out racism has had a long history in the world and in the United States, but people were not placed in a hierarchy of good and bad races until the 1500s, so this sequence of entrenched thought can be overturned , like any other. It takes policy change and for laws to change in order for this to happen though. The most the individual can do is vote for those politicians and elect leaders who change policies to make things more fair. You can do more, of course, if you own your own business or are a person who hires for your company.
I was really surprised by how many ideas about race that I have as a white person came out of these position papers, books and essays on race that I have never read, but become part of the zeitgeist. All of our ideas about race come from people in power putting a horrific policy in place, like slavery, and then using position papers to enforce and make concrete in the mind, a travesty of justice against our fellow humans.
