How to Be an Anti-Racist Book Review
I read this via audiobook and it’s a long one. It was nice to hear from the author themselves read their words and thoughts. There is a lot of information and self-reflection of the author. You learn more about his life and his journey to becoming an antiracist.
At times, I found the tone of the book is everything and everyone is racist and there isn’t much we can do and/or there is so much work to become not racist will be a long, excruciating journey with no rest. I agree that the journey will be long and hard, but the notion that there won’t be rest or breakthrough for MANY people, I don’t agree with. I think that tone can open a can of worms that prevents people from having these conversations and people from having an open heart and mind to have them.
I’ve always been interested in other peoples experiences and how it shapes their viewpoints and thoughts on various topics. This book is a great example of that.
A great aspect of Ibram X. Kendi’s book is sharing his journey through becoming not racist and the journey of the people around him. He includes a variety of information from statistics, books, books, and so much more to shed light on the work of many antiracists and even works that would be seen as racist. He also describes his upbringing and the way his parents raised him and taught him that also impacted his view of the world and various topics. The addition of that helped me better understand where he was coming from and the trajectory of his journey.
I would’ve loved to see and hear of great resources on how to use this book for a lesson in the classroom for educators and businesses too. I think this can be a great resource for people to use that gives language to the things and concepts people are learning and are being exposed to. It would be wise that people take the content of this book in small doses. It can be a lot of information shared that can make a person feel overwhelmed. I would also suggest checking your feelings and thoughts consistently throughout the book too.
Overall, I’m happy I read the book. I think it’s a great resource to start having more conversations about race, class, gender, and so much more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️(3.5/5 stars)