How to Be an Antiracist
Ibram X. Kendi
Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In How to be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. more
305 pages, Hardcover
First published One World
4.38
Rating
113782
Ratings
12008
Reviews
Ibram X. Kendi
35 books 7044 followers
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. He is the host of the new action podcast, Be Antiracist.Dr. Kendi is the author of many highly acclaimed books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest ever winner of that award. He had also produced five straight #1 New York Times bestsellers, including How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored by Jason Reynolds. In 2020, Time magazine named Dr. Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant.
Community reviews
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
I’m going to need some time to properly review this but for now, GO READ THIS BOOK. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
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. more
I have seen people raving about this book and Professor Kendi for about a year now. Professor Kendi recently joined the faculty of Boston University, and since his arrival in Boston his work has been widely hailed as essential reading, unwavering and visionary. I have been invited to more virtual workshops and conferences and trainings which feature Professor Kendi as a headline than I can count. More than this, I have had countless white people or white adjacent folks rave about how enlightening and transformative it has been for them. This feedback make me skeptical and hesitant to read the book, quite frankly. more
While the initial premise of this book is relevant and essential to building policy against racist policies the book seemed very surface level. There were multiple experiences (having a him pointed at him on the bus, his religious journey, his college experience) that felt rushed in with tidbits that doesn’t do these rich experiences service. Unfortunately felt like this was a book aimed at white liberal rather than a text that was appropriate for multiple audiences. He makes a weak argument that Black people can exhibit anti-wHite racism while not delving past Black people having prejudice. A statement like that warrants in depth analysis and historical account of why black people harbor prejudice against white people. more
I have read STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING and was captivated by Ibram X. Kendi's intellect, acuity, and straight talk. I left that book seared and shaken. This is a much weaker outing, organized haphazardly, and unclear about its focus; a memoir; textbook; history book; wake up call. There is an old adage that Eskimos have 40 words for snow, and each word describes a distinct type of snow; important information when your survival depends on knowing and understanding snow. more
I pre-ordered this book the day it was announced because I loved Kendi’s first book, but then I delayed reading it because I thought it was going to be a lecture and that it would go over familiar material. That’s not what the book was. It was a fascinating memoir that is pretty humble and humane. I like that he searches his past for his mistakes and how he brings compassion to this topic. This one is probably required reading. more
There’s not much to write here. Kendi is wrong. Today, no one in America is denied their life’s ambition because of race, creed, sex, etc. Kendi, like so many race obsessed is big on the past but not so much on the present. Long spiels and quotes from people as far back as the 1,400’s that supposedly support his generalized arguments about today’s America; they don’t. more
Gonna elaborate on why I was not a fan of this book. I'm sure there are people who will find it beneficial. I was not one of those people. I would never recommend this book for three primary reasons. 1. more
With protests over George Floyd taking place as I type, this book could hardly be more timely. Kendi's intervention into current race debates is to expose any assumed position of neutrality as subterfuge: there is and can be no position of 'non-racist', 'colour-blind', 'post-racial', he argues: the only viable opposition to racism is to be actively and consciously antiracist. What makes this such a strong book is that it is also a confession: Kendi's antiracist stance is hard-won and actively striven for. Part memoir, he discusses his own upbringing and indifferent schooldays when he internalised anti-black racism, when he grew up imbibing sexist and homophobic ideologies, and recounts with honesty his struggles at university to free himself from his own prejudices. It's this humility combined with a scholar's critical intelligence (his PhD was in African-American studies) that give this book its heft. more
It happens for me in successive steps, these steps to be an antiracist. I stop using the “I’m not a racist” or “I can’t be racist” defense of denial. I admit the definition of racist (someone who is supporting racist policies or expressing racist ideas). I confess the racist policies I support and racist ideas I express. I accept their source (my upbringing inside a nation making us racist). more
So you've dipped your toe in the anti-racist syllabus with Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility and now you're ready for some meatier fare. Ibram X Kendi is arguably the most recognized name in the growing anti-racist awakening that is gripping the West right now. But he wasn't always its greatest champion. Here he reflects on his own past, buying into racist ideas of laziness and lack of effort keeping Black people down in an inflamed and righteous sounding speech he made in high school. His own colorism and acceptance of White notions of beauty. more
Kendi won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for Stamped from the Beginning—a history of racist ideas by progressive intellectuals including Frederick Douglass, and E. B. DuBois. In this book, Kendi examines his own intellectual journey to believe that there are only two categories of people in society—racists and anti-racists. Racists are people who allow racist ideas to grow without opposition. more
Pain is usually essential to healing. When it comes to healing America of racism, we want to heal America without pain. But without pain there is no progress. (I am well aware racism is an issue worldwide but the author is American and thus his quote in this case is specific)Plenty food for thought in this insightfully intersectional somewhat autobiographical look at how our own preconceived notions colour how we see the world - becoming antiracist will be a permanent work in progress as we must continue to check and hold ourselves accountable for the things we don't even necessarily realise we do. Perhaps a bit more textbook'y and heavy duty reading than I typically reach for, so I opted for the audio which is narrated by the author himself. more
"What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what -- not who -- we are. ” Ibram X Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist contains much of what I'd read in Stamped from the Beginning, but alongside his personal narrative. In that way, he shows how his thinking has evolved and how people can move from an awareness of racism to become antiracists. One of the things that surprised me was his chapter on gender. I thought it worked really well here in addressing how we can move to a more just and equitable society. more
Blah blah straw man blah blah slippery slope blah blah red herring blah blah distinction without difference blah blah hasty generalization blah blah some fair points blah blah circular reasoning blah blah cherry-picking blah blah no true scotsman etc. First of all, this book was a chore to read. It switches back and forth between memoir and argument, and sometimes the connection between the two is strained. It would have been better divided into two books. On the whole it’s disorganized, and it’s written rather badly. more
SPOILERSGood idea to recognize the individual versus the race/group/etc. but this book equates racism/racist ideas with being conservative and/or republican/homophobic. So many times in this book the author does exactly what he is trying to get everyone away from - generalizing ideas to an entire group rather than the individual. more
There are some valuable ideas in this book, but it's not one I'll be recommending without some major caveats, especially to white folks new to anti-racism conversations. ETA: I recommend Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk About Race instead - I think it covers most of the valuable stuff, avoids the pitfalls, and offers more concrete suggestions for action. My biggest concern: I can't take an anti-racism book seriously if it's going to talk as if anti-white racism is a real thing. And this book spends much more time on the topic of Black people being racist than I think any book intended to teach white people anti-racism needs or ought to. Of course internalized oppression is real, but Kendi is hardly the first person to identify it, and addressing internalized oppression is never the job of people in the oppressor group. more
The impetus for me to read this book was a book group I belong to on Goodreads which made a special focus for the month for readings on “Black Lives Matter. ” “How to Be an Antiracist” as a title might be inviting for many but was off-putting to me. Sounded too didactic and directive rather than personal and experiential, but that was wrong. Yes, there is a lot of effort to achieve well-founded definitions and principles about the many layers and dimensions of racism, but the narrative is well-leavened with vignettes from Kendi’s personal life. Each excursion taps into his anguish over experiences that led him to various forms of racism on his own part and courage to transform his thinking and attitudes in stages. more