How To Be An Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi

How To Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi was recommended by Shaun King.

Started: 5/15/2020

Completed: 5/18/2020

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Shaun King

Review:

Kendi's journey from a perspective of what is racist to what is truly anti-racist focuses on results.  If the results disproportionately favor one race over another, then that result is racist.  Seems pretty clear, right?  So, when looking at policy and/or behavior one must look at the results.  Is the result toward equity (not absolute equity...if a minority makes up 10% of the population, it shouldn't expect to be 50% of the CEOs, but it would be reasonable to expect to be 10% of the CEOs; similarly if 100 people in a population of 10,000 are a minority, the minority would not anticipate being 10 of the 20 CEOs--that kind of equity is distorting).

When discussing "micro-aggressions" of white people against black people, Kendi gives the example of "...calling the cops on us for running down the street...."  I was instantly in mind of Ahmad Aubrey who was killed by two white men who ambushed him while he was jogging in the middle of the street.  This type of aggression has leapt out of "micro" to become lynching and it feels like it started with Trump's comment about "good people on both sides" from Charlottesville, although it has been present in Republican dog whistles for as long as it was not politically correct to be outright racist, like congressman Stephen King today and Barry Goldwater at the linchpin of a sense of treating people with at least "political" correctness instead of overt hatred.

"Anti-racism should lead to racial equity between integrated racial communities."  That says most of it.  Racism needs to be fought at a policy level first.  Policy needs to be measured by the degree to which it creates racial equity in order for things to change.  Fix the policy and the minds and hearts will follow.