It's hard to imagine another book that is more "it" right now than "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi.
And by "it" I'm not being flippant or minimizing the important discussion it addresses. I just can't remember ever another book that so many people in my various spheres are talking about at the same time. People at my seminary, Luther Seminary in St. Paul, are participating in an all-seminary book read of "How to be an Antiracist." My wife's works place is doing an all-staff book read of it. And I know of numbers of other people -- friends, clergy colleagues and acquaintances -- who are reading or have read Kendi's book.
Kendi is a historian, best-selling author and a professor. He is slated to become the 2020-2021 Frances B. Cashin Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for the Advanced Study at Harvard University. He has authored several books, but the one that launched him into fame was "Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America."
If by some chance you are not familiar with it, Kendi adopts an unorthodox approach to "understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society -- and in ourselves," according to the book jacket. Published in August 2019 by One World, a division of Random House Books, the book took on immense significance in the days since the death of Minneapolis' George Floyd on May 25.
While the book received positive reviews when it first came out, the book's popularity soared this past June after Floyd's death. And it soon found its way onto several best seller's lists.
The book's popularity stems from Kendi's proposals for antiracist individual actions and systematic change. But its wide acceptance also stems from the fact that the book is more personal essay than it is academic treatise. In each chapter, Kendi uses a personal anecdote to demonstrate that everyone -- and he does mean nearly everyone -- has work to do when it comes to racial equality.
Possibly his most daring claim in the book is that people of color can also be racist, and he goes to great lengths to provide proof of his claims. In fact, he even admits to his own racist attitudes and beliefs as a young man in high school and college. ... And I admit that this might have been the first philosophical hurdle I had to crawl over in the beginning chapters of the book.
Like many people of my age, I was raced on a definition of racism that included power. So for instance: privilege + prejudice + power = racism. Or some similar formula. But Kendi argues that isn't so. He is adamant that people of color can be just as racist as people who are not colored. It's an interesting concept and really upends the traditional narrative in this space.
What I liked most about the book is Kendi's concept that one can be both racist and antiracist, sometimes both characteristics coequally existing in the same person. However, he also notes that it is not a continuum. They're is no gray area. You can move from one phase to the next and back endlessly, but no "a little racist" or "a little not racist."
It would take far more words to explain his concept in full, but I did find comfort in the thought that even when we fall short of being antiracist in one aspect in our lives, there may be others in which we are staunchly antiracist. ... Read the book. I promise he has a far more compelling way of explaining this concept.
The other gift I received from the book was language. Kendi does a terrific job of providing new terms to discuss this very personal and challenging topic. I highly admit that prior to reading "How to be an Antiracist" I wasn't informed enough about the plight of people of color in this nation. I mean I thought I was an advocate; I thought that I wasn't racist. But I admit that I was not antiracist, which is a big difference. I know now how much more work I have to go.
That's not to say the books doesn't have its detractors. Several prominent critics panned the book, one describing it as "poorly argued, sloppily researched, insufficiently fact-checked, and occasionally self-contradictory."
Some of those slights might be deserved. I don't feel qualified enough to judge. But I will defend Kendi against one of the charges: "occasionally self-contradictory." ... Members of my small book group and I all pointed out times during our discussions about instances where we thought Kendi WAS contradicting himself. However, I don't think that those instances were enough to make me want to sway you away from reading "How to Be an Antiracist."
The book's prevalence in today's poignant and vital conversation on race inequality, racism and race relations makes it important enough to read if you want to be a person of understanding. It's apparent that there maybe hasn't been a conversation on race this large, this ubiquitous, this tense since the 1960s. And I think it demands our attention as citizens, as neighbors, as theologians, as professionals, as servant leaders ... as human beings.
I don't have a formalized rating system for reviews, but suffice it to say, I believe this book is important enough to insert it in your reading stream now. The experience of reading this book three chapters at a time and then discussing them with a small group of people committed to growing and learning was an important piece of my reading experience. And the entire experience has helped give me hope that we can defeat racism. It will not be easy, and it will not be quick, but Kendi's book gives me the hope that it can be done.
And that is why today I am finding faith in "How to Be an Antiracist."
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