I’ve been hearing a similar comment by White people on social media, “I teach my kids to not see color.” Though well intentioned, these comments and mindset they create do not lead to an equity perspective on life.
Talking about skin color, diversity, race or racism are difficult topics to talk about, but are very needed in today’s society. The only way to dismantle inequity is if we are intentional about it.
If you have had any conversation with a kid around skin color, I’m glad that you thought it was important to do this. It’s always important to open up about a conversation that isn’t easy to have, even more-so when talking to kids.
I hope this article can help, or at least set you on the right path, to talk about racism and equity with kids. I am not a parent so I may not fully understand what you may be dealing with. Nonetheless thank you for taking time to start or continue the conversation and push for an anti-racist society.
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(Related: What Is Health Equity?)
Children today are seeing protest and possibly even riots. There is no way to miss it this time around with everyone stuck at home during COVID-19. The protest over George Floyd’s death has been all over the news, social media and has seen all around the world.
This has brought up the questions of why is this happening. And with many children interviewed speaking up and saying that this type unjust police brutality needs to stop.
What sort of picture are we sending children when they see that people are peacefully protesting and Donald Trump is taunting them on with more unnecessary police violence. The issue of race is deep rooted into a dark history. Not only in America, but all throughout the world. It seems 2020 is the age where the world began to stand up to this racism.
Let’s continue to push on! #BlackLivesMatter. You can be non-racist, you have to push to be anti-racist.
Some Needed Definitions
🗣Racism = race prejudice + social and institutional power
🗣Racism = a system of advantage based on race
🗣Racism = a system of oppression based on race
🗣Racism = a white supremacy system
Racism is different from racial prejudice, hatred, or discrimination. Racism involves one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination through the institutional policies and practices of the society and by shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices.
Antiracism
Opposed to the unfair treatment of people who belong to other races:
Equity
Everyone has fair and just opportunity to means necessary for them to live the best life. Which requires removing obstacles to live your best life – which includes things such as quality education, safe housing, access to affordable food, lack of discrimination, no police brutality, just treatment under the law to name a few.
Why You Should Teach Kids About Equity and Racism
Children are clearly seeing what is happening to persons around the US, and the broader world, because of the color of their skin. So even if you didn’t want to talk about it, it is impacting children’s lives today.
Children begin categorizing people by their skin color by around age 3. So whether you want to believe it or not, talking about race is important from young. Therefore it is important to start these conversations at a young age. I would recommend starting with the books below to share more diverse perspectives with your kids.
There is beauty and strength in diversity and we must teach our kids this from an early age. How boring would a crayon box be with only one color? These conversations must also happen often so that we are able to reinforce positive ideas in their malleable minds.
Kids are the next generation and we need them to carry on the good work that has begun. We all have our part to play to inform and make all kids anti-racist. It is not enough to be non-racist – so we need everyone to work towards having a anti-racist mindset.
How To Teach Kids About Equity and Racism
Firstly, if you want to strive to teach your children about equality and racism, you have to yourself be anti-racist and know what that means. Before anything you should educate and inform yourself. I myself, as a black male, also have to keep educating myself. Because at the end of the day, a topic complex as this one we just won’t have all the answers.
However, it’s important to have solid understanding of the important issues before you. A great way to do this is to read and have conversations around the issues. Unlearning may also be important before you engage in this learning. Inherently living in a society with many racist policies and subtly racism, unlearning is vital to the anti-racist agenda.
If your child makes a inappropriate statement, then you must not get upset with them but use it as a teachable moment. Talk to them and tell them why it’s not okay to say something. For e.g., “You can’t say that persons skin is dirty because it’s not the same color as yours. We all have different and beautiful skin colors.”
Thankfully, today now more than ever there are so many wonderful resources that you can use to better educate yourself and your children about equity and racism. I have listed some of these in the sections below.
Experiential Learning
You want to be able not only to just talk to your kids, but take them on experiential learning journeys.
At it stands right now, the worldwide protest are a great way to start talking about race, equity and justice. You just have to ensure you are talking to them about the true source of the problem: police brutality. When they understand that, you can start to talk about the underlying racist policies and systems that lead to this injustice.
Perhaps you go to a African American Museum or Historical markers and you a question like: do you see something similar about the people here; do you think they are fair?
Or a more relatable and easier accessible way would be through watching a movie or reading a book together. It’s important that you review the story or book beforehand so you can ask thoughtful questions for your children to learn. This is an important time to show your children that it is okay to stand-up when you disagree with something, especially when that something is taking unnecessary lives.
Don’t just talk to them about race, equity and justice, but rather show them why it is important.
Resources to Teach Kids & Adults About Antiracism
This PBS Website Has A List Of Resources on ‘How to Talk to Your Kids About Anti-Racism’
Crossroads Antiracism Organization & Training Resources
Books For Kids on Equity and Racism
(All the below books are linked to Amazon – I may get a commission from any purchases through the link.)
0-3 Years Old
Antiracist Baby – Ibram X. Kendi [releases on June 16th 2020]
From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist comes a fresh new board book that empowers parents and children to uproot racism in our society and in ourselves.
Take your first steps with Antiracist Baby! Or rather, follow Antiracist Baby‘s nine easy steps for building a more equitable world.
With bold art and thoughtful yet playful text, Antiracist Baby introduces the youngest readers and the grown-ups in their lives to the concept and power of antiracism. Providing the language necessary to begin critical conversations at the earliest age, Antiracist Baby is the perfect gift for readers of all ages dedicated to forming a just society.
The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats
The Snowy Day, a 1963 Caldecott Medal winner, is the simple tale of a boy waking up to discover that snow has fallen during the night. Keats’s illustrations, using cut-outs, watercolors, and collage, are strikingly beautiful in their understated color and composition. The tranquil story mirrors the calm presence of the paintings, and both exude the silence of a freshly snow-covered landscape. The little boy celebrates the snow-draped city with a day of humble adventures–experimenting with footprints, knocking snow from a tree, creating snow angels, and trying to save a snowball for the next day. Awakening to a winter wonderland is an ageless, ever-magical experience, and one made nearly visceral by Keats’s gentle tribute.
The book is notable not only for its lovely artwork and tone, but also for its importance as a trailblazer. According to Horn Book magazine, The Snowy Day was “the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero”–yet another reason to add this classic to your shelves. It’s as unique and special as a snowflake.
Amazon.com Reviews
3-5 Years Old
Hair Love – Matthew Cherry
Zuri’s hair has a mind of its own. It kinks, coils, and curls every which way. Zuri knows it’s beautiful. When Daddy steps in to style it for an extra special occasion, he has a lot to learn. But he LOVES his Zuri, and he’ll do anything to make her – and her hair – happy. Tender and empowering, Hair Love is an ode to loving your natural hair – and a celebration of daddies and daughters everywhere.
“I love that Hair Love is highlighting the relationship between a Black father and daughter. Matthew leads the ranks of new creatives who are telling unique stories of the Black experience. We need this.”
Jordan Peele
The Name Jar – Xangsook Choi
The new kid in school needs a new name! Or does she?
Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious that American kids will like her. So instead of introducing herself on the first day of school, she tells the class that she will choose a name by the following week. Her new classmates are fascinated by this no-name girl and decide to help out by filling a glass jar with names for her to pick from. But while Unhei practices being a Suzy, Laura, or Amanda, one of her classmates comes to her neighborhood and discovers her real name and its special meaning. On the day of her name choosing, the name jar has mysteriously disappeared. Encouraged by her new friends, Unhei chooses her own Korean name and helps everyone pronounce it.
Yoon-Hey
5-8 Years Old
Each Kindness – Jacqueline Woodson
Each kindness makes the world a little better.
This unforgettable book is written and illustrated by the award-winning team that created The Other Side and the Caldecott Honor winner Coming On Home Soon. With its powerful anti-bullying message and striking art, it will resonate with readers long after they’ve put it down.
Chloe and her friends won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her friends, they reject her. Eventually Maya stops coming to school. When Chloe’s teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she’d shown a little kindness toward Maya.
“This quiet, intense picture book is about the small actions that can haunt. . . . Woodson’s spare, eloquent free verse and Lewis’ beautiful, spacious watercolor paintings tell a story for young kids that will touch all ages.”
Booklist- Starred Review
The Youngest Marcher – Cynthia Levinson
“[This book] can introduce even the youngest children to the idea of rebellion in an age-appropriate and inspiring way. Give the princesses and pirates a rest and try these inspiring reads—just don’t be surprised if bedtime negotiations rise to a new level. Every activist has to start somewhere!…. The book tells the true story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, who was arrested at a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Ala., when she was 9 years old. In it, Audrey is introduced to stories about the Ku Klux Klan and police brutality, and she decides to join the protest. The compelling story about white supremacy and the civil rights era illustrates the courage and personal sacrifice that activism requires, and teaches kids why it matters.”
The Washington Post, “The best books for raising activist kids”
Let’s Talk About Race – Julius Lester
Karen Barbour’s dramatic, vibrant paintings speak to the heart of Lester’s unique vision, truly a celebration of all of us. “This stunning picture book introduces race as just one of many chapters in a person’s story” (School Library Journal). “Lester’s poignant picture book helps children learn, grow, discuss, and begin to create a future that resolves differences.”
Children’s Literature
“This wonderful book should be a first choice for all collections and is strongly recommended as a springboard for discussions about differences.”
School Library Journal
Lailah’s Lunbox: A Ramadan Story – Reem Faruqi
Lailah is in a new school in a new country, thousands of miles from her old home, and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won’t understand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom.
Lailah solves her problem with help from the school librarian and her teacher and in doing so learns that she can make new friends who respect her beliefs. This gentle, moving story from first-time author Reem Faruqi comes to life in Lea Lyon’s vibrant illustrations. Lyon uses decorative arabesque borders on intermittent spreads to contrast the ordered patterns of Islamic observances with the unbounded rhythms of American school days.
“If you’re looking for an introduction to Ramadan for young readers (ages 5 to 8), consider this picture book. On the first year she is able to participate in Ramadan, Lailah finds herself in a new country, far from her native Abu Dhabi. She is excited to fast, but nervous that her classmates will not understand. With the help of a teacher and a librarian, she learns how she can explain Ramadan to her fellow students and make friends who are respectful of her culture.”
– Concepción de León, New York Times
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina – Monica Brown
My name is Marisol McDonald, and I don’t match. At least, that’s what everyone tells me.
Marisol McDonald has flaming red hair and nut-brown skin. Polka dots and stripes are her favorite combination. She prefers peanut butter and jelly burritos in her lunch box. And don’t even think of asking her to choose one or the other activity at recess—she’ll just be a soccer playing pirate princess, thank you very much. To Marisol McDonald, these seemingly mismatched things make perfect sense together.
Unfortunately, they don’t always make sense to everyone else. Other people wrinkle their nose in confusion at Marisol—can’t she just be one or the other? Try as she might, in a world where everyone tries to put this biracial, Peruvian-Scottish-American girl into a box, Marisol McDonald doesn’t match. And that’s just fine with her.
A mestiza Peruvian American of European, Jewish, and Amerindian heritage, renowned author Monica Brown wrote this lively story to bring her own experience of being mismatched to life. Her buoyant prose is perfectly matched by Sara Palacios’ engaging acrylic illustrations.
Marisol’s varied, distinctive lifestyle and multiracial family affirms our increasingly blended society and clearly celebrates independent thinking. Brava!
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
9-12 Years Old
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness (Ordinary Terrible Things) – Anastasia Higginbotham
NAMED ONE OF SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL‘S BEST BOOKS OF 2018
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a picture book about racism and racial justice, inviting white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it’s real, and cultivate justice.
The Tiny Activist
This book does a phenomenal job of explaining how power and privilege affect us from birth, and how we can educate ourselves…Not My Idea is an incredibly important book, one that we should all be using as a catalyst for our anti-racist education.
Resist: 40 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice – Veronica Chambers
A perfect tool for young readers as they grow into the leaders of tomorrow, Veronica Chambers’s inspiring collection of profiles—along with Senator Cory Booker’s stirring foreword—will inspire readers of all ages to stand up for what’s right.
You may only be one person, but you have the power to change the world.
Before they were activists, they were just like you and me. From Frederick Douglass to Malala Yousafzai, Joan of Arc to John Lewis, Susan B. Anthony to Janet Mock—these remarkable figures show us what it means to take a stand and say no to injustice, even when it would be far easier to stay quiet.
Resist profiles men and women who resisted tyranny, fought the odds, and stood up to bullies that threatened to harm their communities. Along with their portraits and most memorable quotes, their stories will inspire you to speak out and rise up—every single day.
“Most readers will find stories they haven’t heard before in this volume and will discover new inspiration from the familiar. Despite their subjects’ renown, they are presented so that their strength is inspiring rather than overwhelming. A resource to enrich the shelves of every home and library.”
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Ninth Ward – Jewell Parker Rhodes
Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. She doesn’t have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya’s visions show a powerful hurricane–Katrina–fast approaching, it’s up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.
“Jewell Parker Rhodes has written a powerful novel about family and survival in the face of tragedy and has created in her twelve-year-old narrator Lanesha, a true heroine. [She] shows a kind of bravery and big-heartedness that is a gift she passes along to her friend, her community and the readers of this luminous book.”
Walter Mosley
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History – Vashti Harrison
Author-illustrator Vashti Harrison shines a bold, joyous light on black men through history in this #1 New York Times bestseller.
An important book for readers of all ages, this beautifully illustrated and engagingly written volume brings to life true stories of black men in history. Among these biographies, readers will find aviators and artists, politicians and pop stars, athletes and activists. The exceptional men featured include writer James Baldwin, artist Aaron Douglas, filmmaker Oscar Devereaux Micheaux, lawman Bass Reeves, civil rights leader John Lewis, dancer Alvin Ailey, and musician Prince.
The legends in Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History span centuries and continents, but each one has blazed a trail for generations to come.
“Inspiring and healing as it educates, this volume belongs beside its companion on every bookshelf.“
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
12 Years to Young Adult
All American Boys – Jason Reynolds
In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.
A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?
There were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.
Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this four-starred reviewed tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken directly from today’s headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.
“With Reynolds writing Rashad’s first-person narrative and Kiely Quinn’s, this hard-edged, ripped-from-the-headlines book is more than a problem novel; it’s a carefully plotted, psychologically acute, character-driven work of fiction that dramatizes an all-too-frequent occurrence. Police brutality and race relations in America are issues that demand debate and discussion, which his superb book powerfully enables.”
Booklist, starred review
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America – Ibram X. Kendi
The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society.
Some Americans insist that we’re living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America–it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.
In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis.
As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation’s racial inequities.
In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking. In the process, he gives us reason to hope.
―George Saunders, Financial Times, Best Books of 2017
“We often describe a wonderful book as ‘mind-blowing’ or ‘life-changing’ but I’ve found this rarely to actually be the case. I found both descriptions accurate for Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning… I will never look at racial discrimination again after reading this marvellous, ambitious, and clear-sighted book.”
Young Adults
This Side of Home – Renee Watson
From New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning author Renée Watson comes a captivating and poignant coming-of-age urban novel about sisters, friends, and what it means to embrace change.
Maya Younger and her identical twin sister, Nikki, have always agreed on the important things. Friends. Boys. School. They even plan to attend the same historically African American college. But nothing can always remain the same.
As their Portland neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, Maya feels her connection to Nikki and their community slipping away. Nikki spends more time at trendy coffee shops than backyard barbecues, and their new high school principal is more committed to erasing the neighborhood’s “ghetto” reputation than honoring its history. Home doesn’t feel like home anymore. As Maya struggles to hold on to her black heritage, she begins to wonder with whom–or where–she belongs. Does growing up have to mean growing apart?
“Watson paints a thoughtful, powerful picture of the complications of contemporary African- American experience, especially when it rubs up against the hipster middle class. . . . Without ever losing focus on the story of a group of likable teens working through changes during their senior year, Watson effectively manages character and situation to create a genuinely interrogative, genuinely multi-voiced perspective that reflects efforts to negotiate personal identity and desires amid unresolved problems of systemic racial injustice.”
starred review, BCCB
Mexican WhiteBoy – Matt de la Pena
Newbery Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Peña’s Mexican WhiteBoy is a story of friendship, acceptance, and the struggle to find your identity in a world of definitions.
Danny is tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five mile an hour fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound, he loses it.
But at his private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny is brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico.
That’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. But to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see–the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming.
Matt de la Peña’s critically acclaimed novel is an intimate and moving story that offers hope to those who least expect it.
“Unique in its gritty realism and honest portrayal of the complexities of life for inner-city teens…De la Peña poignantly conveys the message that, despite obstacles, you must believe in yourself and shape your own future.”
The Horn Book Magazine
American Born Chinese – Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang is the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Jin Wang starts at a new school where he’s the only Chinese-American student. When a boy from Taiwan joins his class, Jin doesn’t want to be associated with an FOB like him. Jin just wants to be an all-American boy, because he’s in love with an all-American girl. Danny is an all-American boy: great at basketball, popular with the girls. But his obnoxious Chinese cousin Chin-Kee’s annual visit is such a disaster that it ruins Danny’s reputation at school, leaving him with no choice but to transfer somewhere he can start all over again. The Monkey King has lived for thousands of years and mastered the arts of kung fu and the heavenly disciplines. He’s ready to join the ranks of the immortal gods in heaven. But there’s no place in heaven for a monkey. Each of these characters cannot help himself alone, but how can they possibly help each other? They’re going to have to find a way―if they want fix the disasters their lives have become.
“Like Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Laurence Yep’s Dragonwings, this novel explores the impact of the American dream on those outside the dominant culture in a finely wrought story that is an effective combination of humor and drama.”
School Library Journal, starred review
Shine, Coconut Moon – Neesha Meminger
Sixteen-year-old Samar—aka Sam—is an Indian American teenager whose mom has kept her away from her old-fashioned family. It’s never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a demanding boyfriend. But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam’s house—and turns out to be her uncle. He wants to reconcile the family and teach Sam about her Sikh heritage. She is eager to learn, but when boys attack her uncle, shouting “Go home Osama!” Sam realizes she could be in danger—and just how dangerous ignorance is.
“An important book for young people about coming to terms with identity, prejudice, and family in a post-9/11 world. A touching portrait of a strong-willed daughter and her rebellious mother.”
Marina Budhos, author of Ask Me No Questions and Tell Us We’re Home
Books For Adults on Equity and Racism
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
“A valuable guide . . . While especially helpful for those new to the critical analysis of whiteness, this work also offers a useful refresher to anyone committed to the ongoing process of self-assessment and anti-oppression work.”
Library Journal
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race – Beverly Daniel Tatum
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.
“Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria was a landmark publication when it appeared in 1997. Twenty years later this updated edition is as fresh, poignant and timely as ever.”
Earl Lewis, President, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
How To Be An AntiRacist – Ibram X. Kendi
From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society – and in ourselves.
“The most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind.” (The New York Times)
Named One of the Best Books of the Year by: The New York Times Book ReviewTimeThe Washington PostShelf Awareness Library JournalPublishers Weekly Kirkus Reviews
Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism – and, even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. At its core, racism is a powerful system that creates false hierarchies of human value; its warped logic extends beyond race, from the way we regard people of different ethnicities or skin colors to the way we treat people of different sexes, gender identities, and body types. Racism intersects with class and culture and geography and even changes the way we see and value ourselves. In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes listeners through a widening circle of antiracist ideas – from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities – that will help listeners see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.
Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.
“Kendi dissects why in a society where so few people consider themselves to be racist the divisions and inequalities of racism remain so prevalent. How to Be an Antiracist punctures the myths of a post-racial America, examining what racism really is – and what we should do about it.”
Time
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States – Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.
The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history.
“An important corrective to conventional narratives of our nation’s history . . . . An accessible, engaging, and necessary addition to school libraries and classrooms. An excellent read, dismantling American mythologies and fostering critical reasoning about history and current events.”
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
Between The World And Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis.
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race”, a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men – bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son – and listeners – the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder.
Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Named one of the Most Influential Books of the Decade
By CNN
Movies for adults on Equity and Racism
Here is a list of some movies or shows you can watch surrounding Equity and Racism.
- 13th – (Netflix)
- The Wealth Gap, Explained, S1E1 – (Youtube, Netflix)
- When They See Us – (Netflix)
- The Hate U Give – (Hulu)
You can also check out TED talks about these topics. A couple other videos:
- Schools & Social Inequality: Crash Course Sociology #41
- The Broken Policing System | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
- Let’s get to the root of racial injustice | Megan Ming Francis | TEDxRainier
(Related: The Dilemma of Contact Tracer Jobs For Public Health Professionals)
Summary – Foreword
Here I provide a few resources that you can use to better inform yourself on your anti-racist journey! I hope this helps you to get things off to a good start and helps catapult you into many healthy and learning conversations into the future.
Right now is the perfect time to start having conversations with your children about race, racism and equity. Not until we all have the right mindset that we are created equal, with unequal opportunities, that we will start to end this racial injustice.
Please be active in the fight against racial injustice. And right now that means police brutality. Please go vote, advocate for your friends and young people in your life to get registered and vote. We need change – and we need to be the change we are.
