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jessielinden1's review against another edition
5.0
This part memoir part textbook book is a landmark read for me, a well intentioned white American coming to terms with her deep ignorance of what it means to be antiracist, how it is different from “not racist,” and tons of related facets he covers.
Assuming his intended audience is largely white people, for me Kendi succeeds in communicating facts, humility through his own experiences, and his opinions, while also giving us something a bit more tangible to act on now, in this national movement. He succinctly explains the difference between demonstrating and protesting, critique/self education and activism to people who really really really need to understand the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.
What a gift he’s given to anyone willing to accept that they’ve had moments of being racist and, hopefully, antiracist. That they can be redefined in the next moment, and that to be racist in one moment is not to strip every redeeming quality from oneself that they are a bad person. This concept has the potential to increase the emotional maturity of anyone with enough humility to embrace it, and I hope clear the path for meaningful, honest changes moving forward. I will personally be reading other people’s ideas about antiracism as well, and surely continuing to reflect on Kendi’s book.
Assuming his intended audience is largely white people, for me Kendi succeeds in communicating facts, humility through his own experiences, and his opinions, while also giving us something a bit more tangible to act on now, in this national movement. He succinctly explains the difference between demonstrating and protesting, critique/self education and activism to people who really really really need to understand the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.
What a gift he’s given to anyone willing to accept that they’ve had moments of being racist and, hopefully, antiracist. That they can be redefined in the next moment, and that to be racist in one moment is not to strip every redeeming quality from oneself that they are a bad person. This concept has the potential to increase the emotional maturity of anyone with enough humility to embrace it, and I hope clear the path for meaningful, honest changes moving forward. I will personally be reading other people’s ideas about antiracism as well, and surely continuing to reflect on Kendi’s book.
readerbot_lu's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Did I like it? Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes
Favorite Quote
“Aren’t you supposed to be warm-blooded?” Wang Ran cries, eyes suddenly widening. “Shit, was I supposed to sun this body?” (40%)
Positives
As someone who did not read this book when it first came out, I will say I think a lot of Kendi’s thoughts have entered into public discourse. I feel like I have become familiar with some of them that way. But I still find great value in reading his words because he is very eloquent (and public discourse doesn’t catch everything). Plus, there are memoir aspects to this book.
Negatives
None.
jencunn2024's review against another edition
4.0
This book expands thought on antiracism and how to focus on policy. It breaks it all down into digestable segments. The book demonstrates how racism is present all around us but flips thought on whether policy comes from racist ideas or if racist ideas come from racist policy. This book is an enlightening call to action.
kim_j_dare's review against another edition
5.0
Pulled this out to reread, and saw that I’d never written anything after last summer’s original reading.
This is required reading for all of us who are on a journey to become more intentional antiracists. Comprehensive and accessible and inspiring. I appreciated having a physical copy that I could annotate, especially since the past few days’ reread led to more notes.
This is required reading for all of us who are on a journey to become more intentional antiracists. Comprehensive and accessible and inspiring. I appreciated having a physical copy that I could annotate, especially since the past few days’ reread led to more notes.
birdinflight1's review against another edition
4.0
Very enlightening. I'm still digesting this book, and it helped me think deeply about uplift suasion, intersectionality, colorism, racist policies, and the link between racism and capitalism.
One topic that really struck me was his argument before that the important work is to change policy, as opposed to changing people's minds about the problem before changing policy. In so many examples, policy change leads to people changing their minds once the policy has been in place for a number of years. And, conservatives often predict that horrible things will happen if we change the policy, and then, if the policy changes, the horrible predictions do not come true, and most people come to accept the new normal. An example of this that I have witnessed in my lifetime is gay marriage. Conservatives argued that the institution of marriage would be weakened, etc. etc. etc. Well, the policy changed and gay marriage is allowed, and not surprisingly, it has not affected one married couple negatively nor has it ruined the institution of marriage as the conservatives predicted. Now, most people accept gay marriage. I don't hear anyone even talking about it anymore.
The same pattern occurred with interracial marriage, desegregation of schools, the Affordable Care Act, the voting rights act, and many more. Conservatives fear monger, policy changes, horrible predictions don't come true, people accept the policy. It's interesting.
One topic that really struck me was his argument before that the important work is to change policy, as opposed to changing people's minds about the problem before changing policy. In so many examples, policy change leads to people changing their minds once the policy has been in place for a number of years. And, conservatives often predict that horrible things will happen if we change the policy, and then, if the policy changes, the horrible predictions do not come true, and most people come to accept the new normal. An example of this that I have witnessed in my lifetime is gay marriage. Conservatives argued that the institution of marriage would be weakened, etc. etc. etc. Well, the policy changed and gay marriage is allowed, and not surprisingly, it has not affected one married couple negatively nor has it ruined the institution of marriage as the conservatives predicted. Now, most people accept gay marriage. I don't hear anyone even talking about it anymore.
The same pattern occurred with interracial marriage, desegregation of schools, the Affordable Care Act, the voting rights act, and many more. Conservatives fear monger, policy changes, horrible predictions don't come true, people accept the policy. It's interesting.