The horrifying death of George Floyd in the USA as well as previous police killings of black people followed by a huge wave of protests all over the world, including New Zealand, has awakened something entirely new in the minds of millions. We’ve all started questioning our views and opinions like never before. This time we’re not just watching. We’re listening. We’re learning. In an attempt to understand your place in the world and how racism and white supremacy operate, we suggest reading some of these books.
How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi
An iconic read and the best book to begin with if this topic is new to you. This book explains how to practise ‘persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination’, which is basically another definition for ‘antiracism’. You will also learn what actions each of us can and should be taking to build a more tolerant, fair and equitable world.
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo
DiAngelo defines ‘white fragility’ as ‘the defensive reaction white individuals often experience when faced with challenges to their racial ideologies’. He explains how to get rid of this reaction and face the problem with an open heart and open mind.
If you want to start a more honest, real and productive conversation about race and privilege, this book is a great, eye-opening educational source.
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Named ‘best book of 2010s’ by Esquire, this book is structured as a letter to the author’s teenage son. Ta-Nehisi Coats shares the story of his own awakening and his fear for his child that will be familiar to every parent of colour.
Coates says they are leaving their kids world ‘broken and beyond hope of redemption’. But what if it’s not all over yet?
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, Beverly Daniel Tatum
Classic bestseller explaining the psychology of racism and essential for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race.
Self-segregation is still a thing. In most school cafeterias, you’ll see white, black and Latino kids clustered in their own groups. Why does this happen? And what should we do to enable communication across racial and ethnic divides?
How I Shed My Skin: Unlearning the Racist Lessons of a Southern Childhood, Jim Grimsley
Novelist Jim Grimsley was 11 years old when the Supreme Court decided that America’s schools must no longer be segregated by race. Until new students appeared at his school, he didn’t even realise he had never actually known black people before. In this memoir, he goes back to his first encounters with children of colour and how that helped him understand his own deeply engraved prejudices.
This is a deep and moving story and one on the more positive side, as it reminds us that although there is still so much work to be done, society has actually come a long way in the past sixty years.
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, Carol Anderson
Historian Carol Anderson explores how, since the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 and up to electing America’s first black President, every social progress for African Americans was countered by deliberate and cleverly crafted opposition. This opposition is the perfect example of ‘white rage’ – pretending you’re protecting democracy or fighting against fraud whereas, in fact, it’s nothing more but protecting the power of white people.
