8 Must-Read Anti-Racism Books To Add To Your Reading List
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The first step in becoming an ally is taking the steps to educate ourselves. While you may not believe that you are racist, now is the time for white people to understand the privilege that they are born with and understand how deeply systemic racism is ingrained within the American culture. For each of us, this time is a test to not only stand in solidarity with the Black community but take the necessary steps to move forward on lasting actions towards equality.
So You Want to Talk About Race?
"Oluo gives us--both white people and people of color--that language to engage in clear, constructive, and confident dialogue with each other about how to deal with racial prejudices and biases."--National Book Review
Read now: Available at Bookshop.org or Amazon
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism
White Fragility provides important antiracist understanding and essential strategies for well-intentioned white people who truly endeavor to be a part of the solution.”
—Glenn E. Singleton, author of Courageous Conversations About Race
Read now: Available at Bookshop.org or Amazon
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
"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
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How to be An Antiracist
“Ibram Kendi is today’s visionary in the enduring struggle for racial justice. In this personal and revelatory new work, he yet again holds up a transformative lens, challenging both mainstream and antiracist orthodoxy. He illuminates the foundations of racism in revolutionary new ways, and I am consistently challenged and inspired by his analysis. How to Be an Antiracist offers us a necessary and critical way forward.”—Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility
Read now: Available at Bookshop.org or Amazon
Me And White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
''Layla not only engages readers effectively -- she hands them the tools they need to change themselves so that they can better the lives of millions of people worldwide.'' --Rachel Cargle, activist, writer, and lecturer
Read now: Available at Bookshop.org or Amazon
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
"An unflinching look at America's long history of structural and institutionalized racism, White Rage is a timely and necessary examination of white anger and aggression towards black America . . . A compelling look at American history, White Rage has never seemed more relevant than it does today." - Bustle
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The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
“A powerful and disturbing history of residential segregation in America.... One of the great strengths of Rothstein’s account is the sheer weight of evidence he marshals.... While the road forward is far from clear, there is no better history of this troubled journey than The Color of Law.”
- David Oshinsky, New York Times Book Review
Read now: Available at Bookshop.org or Amazon
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
“It is in no small part thanks to Alexander’s account that civil rights organizations such as Black Lives Matter have focused so much of their energy on the criminal justice system.”
—Adam Shatz, London Review of Books
Read now: Available at Bookshop.org or Amazon