#43: How to be an Antiracist
Black History Month continues...
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Published 2019 | 305 Pages
Tags: Non-fiction, Social Justice, Black History, Public Policy
A story
A few years ago I was in a marketing class sitting next to my friend Jordan Newhouse. I don’t recall the specifics of the class that day but I do remember the professor was intense and I disagreed with most of what she was saying. At one point Jordan whispered to me: “The professor is really challenging us, this is great!”
I’ll never forget that because my attitude was: “This is awkward and uncomfortable and I want to get out of here! Why is the professor doing this?!” Seeing opposing ideas as a challenge to confront and engage with rather than run from was the most important lesson I learned that day. I respect and admire Jordan for her perspective.
That experience came to mind as I read Ibram X. Kendi’s How To Be An Antiracist.
It is uncomfortable to read at times. Dr. Kendi drives his point home multiple times in multiple ways. He takes a strong position and demands the same from the reader. There is no middle ground in Dr. Kendi’s mind. It took a conscious choice to read it with Jordan’s attitude of “how great to have my thinking challenged!” I didn’t agree with everything Dr. Kendi said, but I certainly found myself learning a lot from him.
What is it about?
It’s all in the title, but with how much the word racist has been thrown around the past year, it’s important to not be misled. Dr. Kendi goes to great lengths to define his terms and make his meanings clear. He doesn’t use “racist” as a pejorative to take offense to, rather as a term that describes “the support of a racist policy through action or inaction or the expression of a racist idea.” Saying “we are all racist at times” is akin to a Christian saying “we are all sinners at times.” Rather than take offense, one can take the challenge to self-examine.
The book reads like a conversion story and much of it is autobiographical. Dr. Kendi was constantly reading, studying, discussing ideas, and organizing in order to reinvent himself and his ideas. He acknowledges that he was wrong about things in the past which leads me to believe someday he could discover aspects of his current thinking that require correction. Which is ok. I respect his dedication to continuously learning.
How did it impact me?
I’m glad I read this book and I highlighted a lot of it. I walked away from it with an action plan. I’m no activist, but reading this made me more grateful for all activists, past and present, who are doing the work to bring about change.
Noteworthy quotes
To be antiracist is to deracialize behavior, to remove the tattooed stereotype from every racialized body. Behavior is something humans do, not races do.
It is best to challenge ourselves by dragging ourselves before people who intimidate us with their brilliance and constructive criticism.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of How To Be An Antiracist.
What waves of literature have you been surfing?
Kyle