Antiracism Resources

I turned on my computer this morning to a message from Microsoft to the effect of, “If you are seeking to educate yourself on issues of race in the US, we have put together a list of resources.” Normally, they are trying to encourage me to check out their search engine concerning some geographic location, geological formation, or culturally significant image. I normally ignore the suggestion, but today I was intrigued. I was intrigued mainly because here was a major US corporation prompting discussion on a social issue which is very important to many people, an issue we really cannot afford to ignore as a nation that is very divided.

Clicking on today’s option sent me to images of the covers of the following 23 books:

How to Be and Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi;

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates;

So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeomo Oluo;

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad;

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi;

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander;

“Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.;

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein;

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown;

Untamed by Glennon Doyle;

Why I’m No Longer Talking About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge;

Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by Ruth King;

How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy and the Racial Divide by Crystal M. Fleming;

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, Ph.D.;

Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey;

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Banaji & Greenwald;

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race by Jesmine Ward;

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson;

They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery;

Can We Talk about Race? and Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph. D.;

My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Healing our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menake;

The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley by Alex Haley;

Race and the Undeserving Poor: From Abolition to Brexit by Robbie Shilliam;

Below the list of these 23 books were other search results with competing book lists. One was a top 10, another was a top 20, another listed 12, another promoted 7, while another established antiracism books for different segments of the population, and still another promoted particularly black voices to be read on issues of race. There was an article linked reminding us that our antiracism books are tools to get us where we need to go, rather than the destination.

Among the 23 book covers shown, I have not read a single tome, though I have read from a couple of the authors on the list. I can’t say much about the content or appropriateness of these 23 books. What I can say readily is that this list appears to cover a broad range of issues by a broad range of authors. The names alone tell me that some of the authors are white, while others have some African ancestry. Several are works apparently related to doctoral research by people of more than one race. Some are conversations and collaborations by people of different races. Some relate very personal experiences. Some are trying to focus on specific issues in which racism plays a significant role in our society's inequities.

More than anything, however, I was struck that we need a reminder. We need education. We need conversation. We need to take the time to listen to one another about how specific issues like racism impact the lives of people in our communities and societies. It is way too easy to sit back in the comfort of our known circles and established patterns of life without recognizing that our experiences may be very different from the experience of others.

On some level, we know that. We understand that our prison population has more melanin than the population as a whole. We understand that more Black, Latino, and Native American community members fall below the poverty line than those who are white. We understand that there are many more white CEOs than Black, Latino, and Native American ones. We understand that our politicians reflect the white segments of our nation much more heavily than the non-white segments. We are simply fine with that. We accept the racial inequalities around us as normative, expected, or even appropriate.

It’s easy to ignore issues that do not impact us directly. We don’t get concerned about colon cancer until it has impacted a family member. We don’t worry overly much about diabetes until it forces us to change the foods we buy and prepare. We don’t concern ourselves with drug addiction until we come face to face with a loved one who is struggling with the ravages of addiction. We don’t worry over what happens behind the prison walls until a loved one has been removed there. We don’t concern ourselves with changes in immigration policy until it impacts someone we know. We don’t get excited about racism until we see how it impacts people for whom we care.

We need to broaden our understanding of how others experience life differently from ourselves. We need to educate ourselves by reading and speaking with people whose experience is not our own. We also need to invite people we might normally never even see into our circles of concern. We need to expand our definitions of humanity. Reading a different set of books, reading books by a different set of authors, having conversation with people whose skin, culture, education level, and social standing do not match our own are all parts of the change we need. At heart, though, we must recognize two things. 1-I have never walked in the shoes of another. 2-My expectations of life are built on my experience and the specifics of my standing in society.

If we are going to address the deep division in society, we must be willing to assume that we do not share the same starting point. We have not read the same books, talked to the same people, or been given the same instructions about how society is organized and what place we can expect to fill in the world around us. Becoming antiracist requires that we start with an understanding that we are not all the same and that those differences impact the options society sets before us. Until we can accept that reality, we cannot hope to resolve the racial divisions among us.

— ©Copyright 2020, Christopher B. Harbin

http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

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