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Anti-Racism Resources

How to be an anti-racist. Educate yourself and others

Recommended reading

Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America. Yancy, George. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018.  E185.615 .Y36 2018

"When George Yancy penned a New York Times op-ed entitled 'Dear White America' asking white Americans to confront the ways that they benefit from racism, he knew his article would be controversial. But he was unprepared for the flood of vitriol in response. He challenges white Americans to rise above the vitriol and to develop a new empathy for the African American experience."--Jacket.

 

Beyond the White Negro Empathy and Anti-Racist Reading. Davis, Kimberly Chabot. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2014. 

 

Everyday White People Confront Racial & Social Injustice: 15 Stories. Moore, Eddie, Jr., editor.; Parks, Marguerite W., editor.; Michael, Ali, editor. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus, 2015.

While we are all familiar with the lives of prominent Black civil rights leaders, few of us have a sense of what is entailed in developing a White anti-racist identity. Few of us can name the White activists who joined the struggle against discrimination, let alone understand the complexities, stresses and contradictions of doing this work while benefiting from the privileges they enjoyed as Whites.
This book fills that gap by vividly presenting – in their own words – the personal stories, experiences and reflections of fifteen prominent White anti-racists. 

How to be an Antiracist. Kendi, Ibram X. New York : One World, 2019.  E184.A1 K344 2019

"The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it -- and then dismantle it." 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.

In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History. Landrieu, Mitch. New York: Viking, 2018

F379.N565 A26 2018

"There is a difference between remembrance of history and reverence for it." When Landrieu addressed the people of New Orleans in May 2017 about his decision to take down four Confederate monuments, he struck a nerve nationally. Here he discusses his personal journey on race as well as the path he took to making the decision to remove the monuments; tackles the broader history of slavery, race and institutional inequities that still bedevil America; and traces his personal relationship to this history. -- adapted from jacket.

Racism and Anti-Racism in World Perspective. Bowser, Benjamin P. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications

1995, HT1521 .R325 1995

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. DiAngelo, Robin J. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018.

HT1521 .D486 2018

In this groundbreaking and timely book, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo explores how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively. -- Publisher's description.

Summary and Analysis of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism

DiAngelo, Robin J, author. Middleton DE: ZipReads, 2018, HT1521.D486 S1 2018

This book is a summary and analysis and is meant as a companion to, not a replacement for, the original book.

More books to read