In this post: The only guide needed to put our racialize socialization in check. Definition aficionados beware. Read before Stamped From the Beginning.
Category: Black In America
Black History Month is coming to an end, but I can't leave February without giving my Reminders another book review by a Black author!
Ramiah Recommended?
Yes, although I am still partial to Stamped From the Beginning.
Remember how I said Stamped From The Beginning was the more entertaining version of How to Be An Antiracist? Yeah, that still stands.
I have to say, however, How to Be An Antiracist is a highly pedantic (in the best sense of the word possible) sort of read.
Each chapter begins with a definition and its antiracist pairing (e.g. class-racism and class-antiracism, gender-racism and gender-antiracism, etc.). These definitions do a brilliant job of framing the content that follows in that chapter, and as someone who loves a good definition, I was in paradise.
In other ways, the definition of terms felt extraneous. Recall that in Stamped From the Beginning, we had 3 primary definitions: segregationist, assimilationist, and antiracist. In How to Be An Antiracist, the number easily ascends to over 36 (at least two definitions per chapter). Not only does the amount of definitions feel extra, but also how the definitions were used.
There is a specific part of chapter 1 in which Kendi defined systemic racism vs institutionalized racism, and then proposed a new term (racist policies) that we should reference in our antiracist discussions instead.
I had a problem with this. We still live in a world where people deny climate change as much as they deny racism. Despite the research and the anecdotal testimonies of millions, both topics are still denied by some. For someone to understand institutional/systemic racism is a step in the right direction for racial justice awareness, advocacy, and change. To muddle the meaning and significance of institutional racism or systemic racism with another term will likely confuse people who are willing to engage in these conversations. I could have done without it. And that's coming from me, a definition aficionado.
When I read what Kendi was trying to propose instead of institutional/systemic racism, I had a "what was the point?" moment. It seemed like an unnecessary attempt to reinvent the wheel. So fellow aficionados beware.
All of that said, I had a different mind-blowing experience when reading How To Be An Antiracist. Before I jump into what blew my mind, I have to say that Kendi's candor and self-reflection truly facilitated the space in which my mind could be blown (Recall that this was one of my major complaints about Don Miguel Ruiz of The Four Agreements). What I mean by that is, before prescribing advice to readers, Kendi looked at the man in the mirror (*Michael Jackson voice*).
He confessed when he believed in not one, not two, but several racist stereotypes about other races as much as he did about Black people. Black people being criminals, Black people being ghetto, Black people being welfare-dependent.
Not only does he call out these stereotypes but he also presents their racist origins and offers antiracist evidence and arguments to debunk such stereotypes.
One of the most moving moments of Kendi acknowledging his past prejudice was in his description of his friendship Weckea, his best friend who identified as gay:
[Weckea] must have been protecting himself—and our early friendship—from my homophobia. Now I had a choice: my homophobia or my best friend (page 115).
With each instance taking personal responsibility for his past beliefs, he gained credibility as a writer, and as I will describe later, his reflection inspired me to reflect on my own.
As I continue to reflect on How to Be An Antiracist, I remember more clearly how thought-proking it was in ways Stamped From the Beginning wasn't. That isn't to say it is more or less meaningful a read, but it is different.
Something that stood out to me, and stands as one of my most powerful moments of reflection, was learning about class-racism. I cannot tell you how many times I read or heard about "poor Blacks, rich Whites" in media. I do not come from an affluent upbringing, so I usually self-identified as a poor Black.
Not until I read this book, I did not realize how much I synonymized the class and the race so much together. If I had to give split-second association answers to the four words ("White," "Black," "rich," "poor"), I would easily connect "poor Blacks" and "rich Whites" together, mostly as a regurgitation of learned memory throughout the years.
It makes sense - remember that Black people as a race have quite a ways (200+ years, a ways) to go to match White wealth) - but I had internalized and automatically associated Black people as a group to be poor and White people as a group to be rich.
Obviously, that generalization is not true. There are rich Black people and poor White people, of course. But my association was subconscious. And I am not the only one who has fallen victim to this media portrayal.
Kendi broke down what a common descriptor, such as Poor Blacks or Rich Whites, and explains the racism that it is rooted in. I will forever keep the annotations of such instances handy.
My overarching point is that there are major learnings in How to Be An Antiracist. The format of information delivery is wildly different from Stamped From the Beginning (again, this makes sense given the difference in the target audience).
Stamped From the Beginning was a non-history history book. I read it and learned. There was reflection, but it paled in comparison to my experience reading How to Be An Antiracist. Maybe because Kendi's restocking with his own bigotry echoed throughout the read, maybe because the topics covered (classism x race, sexism x race, to name a few) were more expansive than what Stamped From the Beginning covered, maybe because it had a different purpose... I don't know.
I suggest reading How to Be An Antiracist first and then Stamped From the Beginning as a treat to yourself.
Ramiah Reflects
My New Favorite Life Quotes:
"Definitions anchor us in principles" -- Ibram X. Kendi
"Americans have long been trained to see the deficiencies of people rather than policy" -- Ibram X. Kendi
"I feel free to move in my imperfections. I represent only myself. If the judges draw conclusions about millions of Black people based on how I act, then they, not I, not Black people, have a problem. They are responsible for their racist ideas; I am not. I am responsible for my racist ideas; they are not. To be antiracist is to let me be me, be myself, be my imperfect self." -- Ibram X. Kendi
"Self-critique allows change." -- Ibram X. Kendi
Questions to Ask Yourself (and answer!):
What are some racial stereotypes, either about your own race or other races, that you grew up believing? What racial stereotypes do you still hold as true?
Kendi says race is a power construct: "Incorrect conceptions of race as a social construct (as opposed to a power construct), of racial history as a singular march of racial progress (as opposed to a duel of antiracist and racist progress), of the race problem as rooted in ignorance and hate (as opposed to powerful self-interest)—all come together to produce solutions bound to fail" (page 119). Do you believe it is possible for race to be both a social construct and a power construct, or do you think the structure of race is as cut dry as Kendi proposes?
Food for Thought:
A quote I really liked, which to me speaks well to the attack on Blackness in America: "Interrupted my peace with their sirens" (page 25).
Another quote I really liked - on page 27, Kendi explains how he felt ignored as a Black child in the classroom. He explains "Looking back, I wonder, if I had been one of her White kids would she have asked me: 'What’s wrong?' Would she have wondered if I was hurting? I wonder. I wonder if her racist ideas chalked up my resistance to my Blackness and therefore categorized it as misbehavior, not distress. With racist teachers, misbehaving kids of color do not receive inquiry and empathy and legitimacy. We receive orders and punishments and 'no excuses,' as if we are adults. The Black child is ill-treated like an adult, and the Black adult is ill-treated like a child."
Ramiah's Re-read When
Re-read when:
You want to learn how to be antiracist or advice someone who wishes to become antiracist
You want your mind blown
You need to reference definitions for your antiracist vocabulary
You want a refresher on antiracism
You wish to reflect on your own (past and present) prejudice
See below for my book notes:
Check out my other posts and book notes here.
Until next time!
Montana Houston
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