#how to be an antiracist

[alwaysinbetweeninsaneandinsecure]

This family HAS BEEN ABLE TO FLEE SUDAN!! AND ALSO They are still in need of funds to help with immigration costs. Every give and share helps this family move toward the safety and peace that they so deserve.

[nando161mando]

[morlock-holmes]

So, I decided to keep looking and got Ibram X. Kendi's *How to Be An Antiracist* from the library.

This is going to be the hardest one for me to finish, not because of anything political at all but just because I find the way Kendi writes memoir stylistically unexciting.

It reminds me of those long-form magazine pieces that go on and on about the subject's disarming smile and the color of his Italian loafers and how the sunset looks from the coffee shop he selected for the interview and the whole time you're going, "Jesus Christ get to the good parts about securities fraud already"

I'm not coming into the book with a positive attitude which certainly can't help.

So far the political arguments are... well they're arguments, so it's immediately a huge step up from *White Fragility*. That there is even a cogent argument being made feels bizarre after slogging through the utter mess that is *White Fragility*.

They also, unless I'm totally misunderstanding what Kendi is saying, seem *entirely* incompatible with Robin DiAngelo's approach to antiracism on some extremely fundamental levels, which is making me reconsider what *White Fragility* actually is and what was going on in 2020 in general.

I am kind of getting to the point where I almost want to recommend that people read *White Fragility* just so you can understand how truly shockingly bad it is. Like I really cannot overstate it, it's not just that I disagree with the politics, it's really genuinely awful even as an example of those politics.

[misscannibalprincess]

An influencer in my country called her ex boyfriend just to say the most atrocious racist things about his new gf. And them posted the most shit apology video (wich she didn't actually apologized, she just said "I'm sorry if you felt offended"), blaming her "toxic relationship".

It's almost 2025 and we STILL need to explain that you can't just call black ppl n*gger, can't talk shit about their features. I'm so fucking glad that my country has laws that makes racism a crime. That bitch will be in jail for at least 5 years (wish it was more).

Fuck all racists. Burn them, never forgive, never forget.

[hatefulbread]

today's the day... 1/20/25

it's inaugural day. i'm sure many of us are sitting on our phones, anxiously awaiting noon.

yesterday, i tried my best to ignore the articles flooding in about tr*mp's "victory rally", but there were so many that it was unavoidable. there are a million things i can talk about right now, things that disgusted me yesterday, things that disgust me today... but instead i want to chat about something more important.

us.

regardless of where you stand on the political tightrope, this upcoming administration is going to affect you. working class, lqbtqia+, woman, immigrant, bipoc, disabled. veteran, even. we're all going to face hardship unimaginable in our lifetimes. the oligarch is moving inside the white house today. there is no avoiding it when it has it's own office.

this isn't a time to nestle your fear, this is a time to feed your awareness. things are going to happen quickly and swiftly. this isn't the 1930's where people were tracked down solely by tip-off's and good luck. we're all immediately trackable. everything we say and do is coursing through the framework of our phones and laptops, even this blog.

we need to stay focused. study. don't believe everything you hear until you've researched it. conservative media, liberal media, moderate media. it's our job to digest it all and find the truth, because they will all be biased. they will all hide something.

this is one of my favorite books i own, especially this graphic version. it tells us step-by-step what to expect in the uprising of fascism in the government; what we can do to stay safe and present. my favorite chapter is 11.

investigate.

"figure things out for yourself. spend more time with long articles. subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). take responsibility for what you communicate with others." pg. 64.

i am so thankful for the environment my parents raised me in. we didn't have much, but they were adamant about teaching their kids to use critical thinking before coming to a conclusion. they taught us to always trust a pattern, even when it looks like a wild card too-good-to-be-true enters the game. be skeptical. ask questions.

i won't drone on any further. but please, please, please- investigate everything you hear for yourself. do not take what you hear as fact until you've seen it peer reviewed, sourced, and/or fact-checked across several trustworthy news outlets. fox and cnn are not news sources i would ever categorize as trustworthy. go forth with that, as you will.

other incredible books that will help us during this time:

"how to be an antiracist" by ibram x. kendi

"gay berlin" by robert beachy

"strongmen: mussolini to the present" by ruth ben-ghiat

"who's afraid of gender?" by judith butler

"it can't happen here" by sinclair lewis

"how fascism works" by jason stanley

"white fragility" by robin diangelo

and many, many more, upon request.

stay safe. organize. be critical, and let your anger be your guide.

[clustercollective]

I have realized through discussion and reflection recently that I have a lot more unconscious racism and bias than I would like to admit. I want to work on that and I want to do better and be better. I know there are a lot of books out there on being antiracist, but I was wondering if there are any in particular that others would recommend as a starting place. Maybe my fellow palm colored people, is there one you read that challenged you in ways you didn’t expect or opened your eyes to things you never would have thought about? And any POC who read this, are there any books that you would recommend about your history, because I think anti-racism is more than just undoing my internal biases, but I also want to spend the time to learn more than I did in history books and biographies written by people who look like me. I do only know English, so books in other languages are not accessible to me unless there are translations unfortunately.

I will do my own research to find books as well, but any recommendations will be helpful. Thank you

[zoecore420]

anti-racism as a white person

to start off this text i am i white person i will not be able to give first hand account of discrimination or the experience of racism. we as white people have to understand that we will never be able to understand the experience of black americans. in america the n-word is often used as a racist demeaning insult stemmed from american slavery of only 200 years ago. in my opinion when reading the n-word in text, as a white person you should not even thing out the word. the head space is weird. is it racist to think the n-word? in a racist context, yes. in a non-racist context? is it racist to speak the n-word aloud when it’s written it text? i believe as a white person any attempt to use the n-word is even if only a little bit bigoted. every person raised in america is taught bigotry by society. and especially as a white person you have to unlearn that. if you have read this far through this drunk rambling of a white person you should go read some literature written by modern black philosophers. but you, as an anti racist person should choose to speak up for black people whenever you hear bigotry going on, don’t speak over black voices however if no one else is saying anything speak up if a black person speaks up stay quiet and listen. i was brought to posting this because i went to a show and this fucking white guy kept saying the n-word and im like bruh and got in an argument and some white ppl were on my side but like still saying ignorant ass shit so j stay mindful stay demure and we don’t need to talk about racism when black voices are present lowkey?!? 🤷‍♀️ i had to make a tumblr account to post this lol

[lunityviruss]

"I am not my ancestors!!!"

*Doesn't call out their friends racism, believes in stereotypes, denies their white privilege, uses the police as a way to keep black people in line, steals from black creators then tries to rebrand it as something new, gets mad a black safe spaces, uses their white tears as a way to get black people in trouble, whitewashes the truth,and is somehow always the victim in any situation at all time.*

Just cuz you don't have a whip in your hand and aren't telling black people to get back into the fields doesn't mean you're any different from your meemaw in the 50s or your pop pop in the 1700s bitch 🤷🏾‍♂️

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

I previously wrote about this, and I'm not sure people really understand this is what the "genius" leading thinker in racial justice and harmony legitimately believed.

So, here's from my copy.

[nando161mando]

COUNTER COUNTER PROTEST SUN 11.30AM PARLIAMENT

NEVER AGAIN MEANS GAZA 🇵🇸

This Sunday, racist opponents are holding a "Never Again Is Now" rally in solidarity with the Zionist entity currently enacting genocide in Palestine. Politicians addressing the rally will reiterate that they stand with Israel while it drops bombs over Gaza.

Western nations failed to prevent the Holocaust and "again" are failing to prevent the systemised torture, starvation and mass murder of a people.

We must directly counter Zionism, fascism and the political forces that express support for genocide and racism in society.

Zionism is a racist, colonial ideology. As Jews and Palestinians, we stand against all forms of racism and all colonial, imperial violence justified through dehumanisation and hate and allowed to be mainstream.

Join the counter counter protest to the Free Palestine rallies, to say that today, "never again" includes Gaza.

Never again means respecting the memory and lessons of the Holocaust.

@antifainternational @anarchistmemecollective @radicalgraff @kropotkindersurprise

[maimndevour]

PSA to other white people EVEN THOUGH COUNTLESS OTHERS HAVE SAID THIS:

it is good to be ashamed- it is good to denounce your ancestors for the atrocities they committed during slavery + ethnic cleansing/colonization + forceful removal of land and home. There is no reason to be proud and i don’t know why random white supremacists online are acting as if they are NOT being hateful by saying “it’s not my fault my ancestors did that, i don’t wanna feel shame for being white.”. That is hateful in itself!!!!!!! white people are responsible for white people doings! colonization, slavery, and removal of land and exploitation are all crimes! nobody likes these things! so stop trying to take away your shame and guilt and learn to recognize while it was not you that did it- you perpetuate the evil rhetoric by saying “it wasn’t my fault so it’s not my problem.�� bc it is!!!!!!!!

fuck racists. fuck exploitative individuals and the methods they used to take away innocent lives and torture people

[misscannibalprincess]

Lmao I saw some gringos getting mad that a racist got arrested in my country (Brazil)

Sorry mano, but some of us actually do something instead of making excuses for hate crime. Hate speech will never be free speech.

And just to clarify, racism against arabs, asians, antisemitsm are also crimes here.

[ausetkmt]

NPR: In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

Eric Deggans looks at the new documentary "Stamped from the Beginning," which looks at the history of racist ideas in America.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The Netflix documentary "Stamped From The Beginning" starts with a provocative question writer and professor Ibram X. Kendi asks of other Black academics.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

IBRAM X KENDI: Can you please tell me what is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: What is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK, what do you mean by that?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: What is wrong with Black people?

RASCOE: Kendi, who founded the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, answers by invoking how systemic racism can convince Black people and everyone else that Black people deserve to be marginalized. NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans has watched "Stamped From The Beginning" and has also been following recent allegations of mismanagement against Kendi at the BU center. Hi, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hi.

RASCOE: So first, tell us more about this documentary. It's out on Netflix later this month.

DEGGANS: Yeah, it's this percolating primer on the themes in Kendi's award-winning 2016 book of the same name. Now, there's compelling animation, historical photos, interviews with lots of academics - although it might be tough for some people to watch. It's centered on this idea that much of the systemic racism that's directed against Black people was created as an attempt to justify enslavement and exploitation of Black people, not the other way around. And in the film, you know, Kendi speaks of this ruler known as Prince Henry of Portugal who he says turned to enslaving Black people from Africa in the mid-1400s instead of Europeans because it was harder for them to run away. Here's a clip. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

KENDI: Prince Henry didn't want to admit he was violently enslaving African people to make money, so he dispatched a royal chronicler by the name of Gomes Zurara.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KENDI: Gomes Zurara justified his slave trading by stating that Prince Henry was doing it to save souls and that these people in Africa were inferior.

DEGGANS: So that, Kendi says, is the creation of Blackness in which Europeans treat Africans from many different tribes and countries as one inferior race to justify exploiting them.

RASCOE: So these are some very complex concepts about race and history. How does this fit with his other work, you know, like his bestselling book "How To Be An Antiracist" or his ESPN series on sports and race?

DEGGANS: Well, you know, I've interviewed Kendi for NPR's Life Kit podcast. And at the core of a lot of his work is this idea that racism is a behavior, not just a state of being - that it comes down to choices you make every day. And in Netflix's "Stamped From The Beginning," that means examining these ideas like the myth of Black hypersexuality, which has been invoked throughout history to justify raping Black women or lynching Black men. And after the death of George Floyd in 2020, you know, Kendi gained new prominence speaking on these themes - the themes in "How To Be An Antiracist." And those ideas are found in so many contemporary issues that it makes sense that Kendi could leverage them into an ESPN project on racism in sports or this Netflix film.

RASCOE: And what about that criticism Kendi ran into following his decision earlier this year to lay off about half the staff at the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University? Where do those allegations of mismanagement stand?

DEGGANS: Well, the university just released an internal audit finding there were no issues with how the center's finances were handled, which kind of backed up Kendi's contention that the layoffs were not a result of bad fiscal management. And it also pushes back against some critics who tried to delegitimize his concepts by suggesting he's some kind of fraud. Now, hopefully, this will allow people to focus more on his ideas, which he sums up at the end of "Stamped From The Beginning" by answering that original question. The only thing wrong with Black people, he says, is that we think something is wrong with Black people.

RASCOE: NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans. Thank you so much.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

[witchyphilosophe]

Let’s go!

[52booksproject]

Book 37: How to be an Antiracist

This week I chose How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. It was a tough book. There is just a ton of historical racist ideas and rhetoric presented as what we're fighting against and it made for very uncomfortable reading. My library's copy was an updated book that had annotations that fixed problematic terms and clarified points he had been criticized about.

Kendi's premise is that one cannot simply be a "not racist" person and the opposite of racism is antiracism. There are two kinds of racism - one that thinks some races are inferior and always will be and one that says some races are inferior, but not inherently because if they assimilate to the right (white) ideas they can become equals. He talks about the connection and intertwining of Capitalism and racism and the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexuality. Apparently modern Capitalism was born when Prince Henry the "Navigator" started Black slavery. Racism isn't necessarily about bad people hating other people for the color of their skin- it's more about self interest and using the concept that others are inferior to justify unfair policies.

Kendi is absolutely frank about his own history of internalized racist ideas and college era bigotry against white people. At one point he even believed whites were aliens that came to oppress Earthlings of color (his friend laughed him out of the room at that one and he soon dropped the idea).

Essentially to be an antiracist is to support policies that seek to eliminate racial injustice.

BEST QUOTE: We cannot be antiracist if we are homophobic or transphobic.

SHOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK? I give this one a resounding yes! It's an interesting premise and a great look into America's and the World's racism problem.

ART PROJECT:

Ok, I really couldn't think of anything to do for this that wasn't totally cheesy.

So I thought in the spirit of the self confession in the book that I would share my history of being racist. I started a few spaces ahead as my parents are antiracist oriented (nobody's perfect though), and and raised me as best they could in a racist society. I still held a lot of racist ideas and ignorance honestly. And though I was raised to be a gay ally, back when I was a kid I was pretty transphobic and would be until the trans movement gained better traction in the 2000s and I finally learned that trans men and women are in fact men and women. Unfortunately for me, I was in a very white area and the only substantial population of people of color were Latinix. That thankfully made most of my racist mistakes not targeted at actual individuals. I still struggle with racist ideas though I try very hard to be antiracist. All I can do is continue to chip away at my ignorance and be eternally vigilant.

[connanro]

i just realised that all THREE (3) books im currently reading are about racism