How to Be an Antiracist

Thoroughly enjoyed the content.

Excellent book! I really appreciate Kendi's analysis and his thorough explanations. Definitely food for thought here. His candor regarding his own intellectual and antiracist development helped open me to some of the challenges his writing poses to my own beliefs and practices (as a black man and as a parent). See his Stamped From the Beginning for a comprehensive history of racism.

My one complaint about How to Be an Antiracist as an audiobook is the narration. His tone, cadence, and enunciation just aren't there for me. At times, the high pitch of his voice (generally seems to occur when emphasizing a point or certain details) is jarring and distracted me from the actual content. Still worth the listen though!

9 people found this helpful

Serves a different purpose

Stamped is an enlightening work of non fiction....the author's previous work. This book serves more to narrate the author's evolution of perspectives on racism and race and describes more generally about the definition of an antiracist more so than actual explicit strategies of antiracism. In addition, the author's reading is often too staccato and un refined leaving to a distraction of the poignant messaging.

7 people found this helpful

A book for humans looking to become human

Read this book. Then, read it again. Give it to another. Teach it to a class. Read it again. And then, again... until you die.

10 people found this helpful

I'm going to read this a second time!

There is do much info to absorb I have to go over it again. Excellent info!

6 people found this helpful

Racism is a cancer

Summary: A personal, memoir informed, look at the difference between being ’not racist’ and an antiracist.
I picked up How to Be an Antiracist almost immediately after I finished Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. They are very different in approach. Stamped from the beginning is more academic, much longer, and more historical. How to be an Antiracist is much shorter, more personal and, in a helpful way, not academic.

Despite it being shorter and less academic, I think this is a book I am going to need to read again, while I doubt I will re-read Stamped from the Beginning. How to be an Antiracist is making subtle changes to the recent Critical Race Theory informed definitions of racism. And while I think I mostly agree with Kendi’s critiques, I also think I need to both re-read this book to be sure I understand what he is doing, and read some others responding to him to make sure I am not missing some of the implications of his critiques.

At the most basic, Kendi is rejecting the prejudice plus power definition of racism. At the same time, he is rejecting racist as a descriptor of a person. He wants racist to be the descriptor of the idea or action. “A racist idea is any idea that suggests one racial group is inferior or superior to another racial group in any way.” Similarly, “A racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups.” In another place, “What is racism? Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities…Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing.”

Kendi uses the metaphor of racism not as an identity (or tattoo), you either are or are not racist, but a sticky name tag that you put on and take off. He is unequivocal that anyone can express racist ideas or perform racist actions. And he is not at all rejecting the concept of racism as a systemic reality. He does not like the term systemic racism (because it is too vague). He wants to concentrate on ‘racist policies.’

“A racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups. An antiracist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups. By policy, I mean written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people. There is no such thing as a nonracist or race-neutral policy. Every policy in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups.”

There will, I think, be several White people that are opposed to the Critical Race Theory line of thinking about racism that wants to embrace a part of Kendi’s point. They will like that anyone can express racist ideas or actions. But will not understand Kendi’s more significant point that the movement to antiracism is rooted in the empowerment of Black and other minorities. Kendi’s position is not that Blacks can be racist against Whites, but that Blacks can be racist against other Black people. Kendi is not empowering the idea of ‘reverse racism’ but expanding racism to included Black people being racist against other Black people or other minorities.

Throughout How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi talks about three approaches. In general, people are or have been, segregationists, assimilationists, or antiracists. Segregationists want to maintain separate racial hierarchies. Assimilationists wish to break down legal segregation, but also do not go far enough in breaking down the internal understanding of racial superiority. Assimilationists want acceptance and often are willing to have either partial approval or behavior-based acceptance of some, as opposed to all. In Kendi’s approach, segregationists and assimilationists are both forms of racism. It is only antiracists that are focused not just on legal segregation and discrimination, but also on internal feelings of superiority or inferiority that move society beyond racism.

Antiracism, like feminism in its ideals, is not about reversing the patriarchy or racial hierarchy, but about equality. To be antiracist in Kendi’s ideal means to not only be opposed to racism and for racial equality, but also to be against division based on, “gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, skin color, nationality, and culture, among a series of other identifiers.” To be antiracist means that you are also an antisexist, against religious discrimination, against xenophobia, etc.

Kendi is also not interested in suasion.

“The original problem of racism has not been solved by suasion. Knowledge is only power if knowledge is put to the struggle for power. Changing minds is not a movement. Critiquing racism is not activism. Changing minds is not activism. An activist produces power and policy change, not mental change. If a person has no record of power or policy change, then that person is not an activist.”

When I say this book is personal, I mean that. Kendi uses his own life primarily as an example of moving from racism to antiracism. He talks about how he, at one point, had adopted the racist ideas against other Black people that were common at the time and won a speech competition by reciting them. He talks about anger and hatred against White people for both the historical harm and the continued indifference to racism. He talks about his own internalized sexism and homophobia. In each of these areas and more, he came to realized that a sense of superiority or alienation, no matter how large or small, perpetuates differences and violates the antiracist ideal.

The end of the book is the most personal. Kendi recounts how soon after they were married, his wife developed breast cancer. Together they walked through that cancer and instead of being newlyweds and she starting her medical career after 12 years of preparation to become a doctor, she became a cancer patient. And then not long after his wife was cancer-free, he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.

Cancer becomes the metaphor for racism at the end. Racism has embedded itself in our society. It is spreading and distorting culture and if it is not rooted out, not just in the racial aspects, but the sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc., it will continue to metastasize and transform. According to an interview on NPR I heard last week, his cancer is in remission for now, but he has a very high likelihood of reoccurrence, and he is not fooling around because he is not sure how long he will be alive to oppose racism.

9 people found this helpful

Marvelous and useful.

I bought a print copy of the book after hearing Kendi interviewed but quickly downloaded the audio book as well. As impactful as his writing is, I found it it important to hear his voice, his emphasis and passion throughout.

There are ideas here I’d heard before or concluded for myself, but many connections I’d never made. This is an important book for anyone who wants to imagine and help create a better future.

11 people found this helpful

Intelligent, Eye-opening, and Inspiring

First and foremost, this book is worth a credit. There is SO MUCH great material. I’ve been searching for a deeper understanding of the race issue. I was worried that I might end up listening to 10+ hours of everything I was doing wrong or what would amount to nothing more than one long guilt trip. But that’s not this book. Kendi even starts with a confession of his own racist conduct in the past (not overtly racist). And he explains why anyone can act as a racist. I appreciated that.

I re-listened to many portions of the book and made a number of clips with notes. This book has provided me with direction on how I can make my conduct and efforts anti-racist. It has inspired me to do more and to make my efforts more meaningful and effective.

A few issues, though:

The narration is distracting at times. I think Kendi narrating his book adds a needed element of sincerity, but there are a lot of unnecessary pauses. For example: “African Americans are {pause...2...3...4} more likely to {pause...2...3} be incarcerated.” I really wish it had been narrated in a conversational tone.

Next, there is a sprinkling of the semi-ridiculous among the otherwise outstanding content (or maybe it’s that I’m just not where I need to be on the issue of race?). One example is where Kendi says do-nothing climate change policies are racist because they impact the large African American communities of the South more than White communities located in the cooler parts of America (paraphrasing).
Okay, Mr. Kendi, maybe that’s true. But don’t those same policies affect White Southern Baptists, “Latinex” (never heard that term before this book), and Evangelicals disproportionately, too, since those groups are also primarily in the South? And doesn’t that make it less racist? Also, are we labeling policies “racist” when the disproportionate affects are two or three levels removed? To me, it’s reaching—like that one find-the-Kevin-Bacon-movie-link type of reaching. And it’s too broad of a definition. We can attack racism more effectively with targeted efforts, not an all-encompassing definition that essentially includes every policy (can’t we?).
Fortunately, this type of issue/argument by Kendi doesn’t occur very often in the book.



Overall, I think Kendi does a great job tackling a very divisive issue and providing needed insight. He has proved himself a stellar teacher and advocate.

Side note: there’s more great content from Kendi on YT that’s worth checking out.

19 people found this helpful

Never read anything like this

This narrative is beautiful and wise. My sincere hope is that every person in America become exposed to its ideas. And Ibram X. Kendi has a wonderful voice that speaks his ideas perfectly.

2 people found this helpful

Phenomenal and elevating.

I loved it and will read again. A sobering and factual presentation. Pushed on difficult topics and made it humanly relatable. Trasnformative in creating a desire to self reflect and correct behavior,culture and an array of other facets of life influenced by racism. The shift to antiracism is ground breaking and healing.

3 people found this helpful

Amazing Journey

Mr. Kendi takes you on an amazing journey in this book. A must read