From the Bookshelf of The Roundtable…

How to Be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi

Start date: June 6, 2020

Finish date: July 31, 2020

Discussion: Side Reads - Nonfiction

Why we're reading this: Spontaneous side read, if folks can locate a copy
[close] Spontaneous side read, if folks can locate a copy

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What Members Thought

Jul 15, 2020 Viv JM rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, read-in-2020, author-male

I found this a really useful and insightful look at the different types of racism and what it means to be an anti-racist. I wasn't expecting the elements of memoir, tracing the author's own journey to becoming an anti-racist but I found that really engaging and helpful. One of the most interesting things to take away from this is the author's contention that racist policies cause racist beliefs rather than the other way round which is what I had assumed. So activists should spend more time ensur ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Sep 21, 2019 Nadine in California rated it it was amazing

Kendi says that "...the heartbeat of antiracism is confession", and he shows the way forward by bravely confessing/recounting his own journey from racist (while believing he was fighting racism) toward antiracism. It’s a lifelong process of self-examination and this book inspires readers to do the same. This book isn’t simply a memoir though – Kendi grounds his story in political analysis based on historical record and academic research. He points out the many ways that racism is so ubiquitous t Kendi says that "...the heartbeat of antiracism is confession", and he shows the way forward by bravely confessing/recounting his own journey from racist (while believing he was fighting racism) toward antiracism. It’s a lifelong process of self-examination and this book inspires readers to do the same. This book isn’t simply a memoir though – Kendi grounds his story in political analysis based on historical record and academic research. He points out the many ways that racism is so ubiquitous that people of all races and political leanings unwittingly internalize it – it's like water to a fish. But an antiracist viewpoint blames policy, not people for racism and looks to policy change as the way to eradicate it, rather than focusing on changing hearts and minds. Changing racist policies will open hearts and minds, rather than vice versa. "Treating ignorance and hate and expecting racism to shrink suddenly seemed like treating a cancer patient’s symptoms and expecting the tumors to shrink. The body politic might feel better momentarily….but as long as the underlying cause remains, the tumors grow…”

Kendi’s analysis of the civil rights struggles of the 50’s and 60’s claims that their successes were not due to moral persuasion and education, but to government's cold calculation that civil rights was in its best interest. While his evidence of behind-the-scenes policy-making was eye-opening for me, I still believe that moral persuasion and education played a necessary-but-not-sufficient role. Maybe I'm overstating his case - I hope so. The civil rights struggles are one of the few unambiguously proud moments in US history, I refuse to believe it had no power to effect change. I also wonder how today's rollback of civil rights by the Supreme Court in Shelby v Holder works into Kendi's theory.

“As early as 1946, top State Department official Dean Acheson warned the Truman administration that the ‘existence of discrimination against minority groups in this country has an adverse effect on our relations’ with decolonizing Asian and African and Latin American nations. The Truman administration repeatedly briefed the US Supreme Court on these adverse effects during desegregation cases in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, as historian Mary L. Dudziak documents. Not to mention the racist abuse African diplomats faced in the US. In 1963, Secretary of State Dean Rusk warned Congress during the consideration of the Civil Rights Act that “in waging this world struggle we are seriously handicapped by racial or religious discrimination.” Seventy-eight percent of White Americans agreed in a Harris Poll. Racist power started civil rights legislation out of self-interest” (p.207)

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Jun 27, 2020 Pamela rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Interesting and thought provoking read. Kendi's arguments are clear and coherent, springing from the idea that racist policies cause inequity between racial groups, and that to counteract these only anti-racist actions can be effective. A 'non-racist' or 'colour-blind' approach will not work, as it allows racist policies to continue. This argument is then extended into all the spheres where an anti-racist stance is required, supported by anecdotes from Kendi's own experience.

Although this is wri ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 26, 2021 Sera rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, favorites, own

Another great read in my journey to educate myself in how to make our world a better place for all people to live within. Kendi has a bit of a different perspective on racism and antiracism than I've read in books written by others in this space. He does not see racism as simply as a white versus black issue. Black people, according to Kendi, can act in a racist manner similar to any other racial group of people. Although this distinction is important, it isn't the critical theme of the novel. W ...more

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Jul 12, 2020 Janice (JG) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I was going to list some of my favorite quotes, but realized there were too many and this post would never end. Each chapter of the book covers a topic that defines racism, and it also defines the antiracist behavior that transforms racist concepts. There are 18 chapters. Kendi is wonderfully articulate and well-researched, giving the reader insights into the sources of these racist behaviors - for instance, I did not know that racism as we know it is only 600 years old - as well as elaborating ...more

1 like · Like · see review