Reviews with content warning for Sexism - How to Be an Antiracist

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

27 reviews

kibbles15's review against another edition

3.0

emotional informative medium-paced

This book is well written and the author clearly did extensive research into the history of racism in the United States. The fact that he used his own life experiences gave the book a more accessible feel because it read more like a memoir than a book on political science. In terms of content, I appreciated that he took a view point that, with a few exceptions, did not attack or blame any specific racial group when defining racism. However, there was some definite bias in some of the opinions/definitions presented in the book and the ideas tend to lean toward a more liberal viewpoint. This is fine, but it is good to note that the book is not a completely unbiased assessment of racism in the United States.

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maggiejean's review against another edition

4.0

challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

So enlightening and informative. I am recommending this to everyone I know.

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tiernanhunter's review against another edition

5.0

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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emflipspages's review against another edition

5.0

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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alyssa_s10's review against another edition

5.0

challenging informative medium-paced

I read this book as part of the ABC book challenge. I am glad I picked this one. It is a must read and I couldn't put it down. I love how he frames his talking points and his thesis.

I liked the ending allegory of racism to cancer.

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anniereads221's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional informative sad

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lucinotlucy's review against another edition

4.75

challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

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bluejayreads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging informative

This book is intense and absolutely bursting with ideas about racism and anti-racism that I’ve never heard before.

In many ways it feels like a topical memoir, as the ideas contained are illustrated and expanded through the author’s life in a mostly-chronological order. Mr. Kendi discusses his struggles with external, systemic, and internalized racism, and to a lesser degree homophobia and sexism, and now reckoning with those forces led to these ideas.

This book heavily emphasizes definitions, with each topical chapter opening with a definition of a term. At first I thought that was kind of silly, because of course I know what racism is, otherwise why would I have picked up this book? But Mr. Kendi uses these definitions – and he defines these words much differently than I would have, and for good reasons which he explains – to tackle everything from intersectionality to the idea that Black people can’t be racist. The ideas he presents are radically different from most of what I’ve heard about race and racism, and the difference is eye-opening. He makes it clear why most movements against racism today have accomplished little to nothing.

In the early hours of reading this book, I was afraid this would have to go in my “the title promised me actionable things to do but it lied to me” pile, as it was focusing more on explaining what racism and anti-racism were more than how to be an anti-racist. But it gets there. Mr. Kendi wants to make sure we’re on the same page concerning the ideas he’s presenting, but once he’s sure of that he digs into the practical, actionable stuff. And don’t think you can skip over the first sections and go straight to the practical stuff, because the actionable items won’t make half as much sense if you don’t have the context built up in the earlier parts of the book.

This book is amazingly valuable. The perspectives on racism and anti-racism are much different than mainstream ideas about race and racial activism (or at least way different from the twenty-teens Tumblr social justice ideas where I was introduced to these things). I feel like my mind has been expanded, and of course I always appreciate actionable steps. This book and the radical ideas inside are absolutely worth reading.

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rieviolet's review against another edition

5.0

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

I am really a beginner when it comes to reading about racism and other aspects of social justice, so this book was a very important read for me and helped me a lot to understand better, to learn more and to reflect, even when that meant difficult and painful reflections.

Overall, I think the book was very accessible and easy to follow, although some of the ideas and themes included certainly need time to sink in and to be digested.

I enjoyed the narrative choice of alternating personal experiences and explanatory/reflective segments. It was really fascinating to follow the author's own journey and to see it reflected in the themes included in the chapter.
I very much enjoyed the historical sections and I look forward to expanding my reading and my knowledge of these topics.

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jellybean53's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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