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Sep 3, 2020

#140



In addition to watching Ibram X. Kendi’s May 2020 Ted Talk, The difference between being "not racist" and antiracist, listening to the June 2020 podcast, Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist on Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast series, reading his article in September 2020’s The Atlantic The End of Denial, and reviewing his website, I have spent the last few weeks reading his 2019 book, How to be an Antiracist.



Having heard various speeches, seen presentations, and read various articles, I was familiar with many of his ideas and some of his oft-quoted expressions such as “And so really the heartbeat of racism itself has always been denial, and the sound of that heartbeat has always been, ‘I'm not racist.’ ”


Despite the familiarity with many of his ideas, I very much appreciate the honest - and often searingly honest - personal account of growing up, his feelings/belief system thereof and the subsequent and substantial change in his understanding/belief system as a result of his interactions with family, friends, and society at large. The personal narrative is intertwined with pertinent quotes and reference to academic research. Of the 18 chapters many start with a definition juxtaposing racist and antiracist perspectives. Despite reference to extensive research, How to be an Antiracist is not a heavy tome (as I had initially anticipated). Rather, there is a clear voice which speaks directly and authentically and - in both content and delivery - targets a wide audience while addressing specific themes such as power, ethnicity, culture, behaviour, and gender.

Grundy’s July 2020 article in The Atlantic, Your Anti-racism Books Are a Means, Not an End concludes with the following paragraph:

“In this sense, the answer to “What did you do?” would seem to be far more material for race relations than “What have you read?” Structural justice and public accountability facilitate consciousness raising and give it meaning beyond lip service. In the absence of concrete economic and legislative changes, consciousness raising through anti-racist reading is mere filibustering—white people learning about their privilege and power without ever having to sacrifice either.”


And thus reminds us that reading of these seminal texts will not fix society. Rather, the ultimate aim of How to be an Antiracist is to encourage people to reflect upon their life, acknowledge previous and current racist thoughts/actions and - for the good of society - move forwards antiracist actions beyond the individual, but at a societal level, so as to bring forth an equitable society.

Some standout lines/thought provoking quotes for me on both a personal and professional level are:

“The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it—and then dismantle it. ” (page 9)

“Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities.” (page 18)

“When we racialize any group and then render that group’s culture inferior, we are articulating cultural racism.” (page 90)

“To be antiracist is to deracialize behavior, to remove the tattooed stereotype from every racialized body. Behaviour is something humans do, not races do.” (page 105)

“Knowledge is only power if knowledge is put to 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.” (page 209)





If you have read, How to be an Antiracist, what are your takeaways? What most resonated with you?


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