{"id":20310,"date":"2020-12-12T22:47:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T02:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=20310"},"modified":"2020-12-16T18:27:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T22:27:51","slug":"how-to-be-an-antiracist-by-ibram-x-kendi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-an-antiracist-by-ibram-x-kendi\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi: Key Points"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is How to Be an Antiracist <\/em>by Ibram X. Kendi? What are the key messages of the book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Be an Antiracist<\/em> by Ibram X. Kendi is a book that shares the author’s journey through perspectives on race and racism. The book offers a three-step guide to becoming antiracist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about How to Be an Antiracist<\/em> by Ibram X. Kendi and the key steps for applying its lessons to your own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Overview of How to Be an Antiracist<\/em> by Ibram X. Kendi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How to Be an Antiracist <\/em>is part how-to and part memoir. Author Ibram X. Kendi, like many of us, grew up in a racist society and internalized many of its ideas. Throughout much of his life, he was racist, and in How to Be an Antiracist, <\/em>he describes how he changed his thoughts and actions\u2014and how you can change yours\u2014to become an antiracist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Be an Antiracist <\/em>by Ibram X. Kendi covers three major steps to becoming antiracist:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Learn what racism is and how it evolved.<\/li>
  2. Become aware of subtle racist ideas<\/a> you might have been unknowingly supporting and weaken them.<\/li>
  3. Start supporting antiracist rather than racist policies.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Step #1: Learn What Racism Is<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The first step to becoming antiracist is to understand what racism is and what causes it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most people think that the concept of race came first, then people developed racist ideas, and then, finally, people developed racist policies stemming from their racist ideas. However, the true order of events is different: The policy created to further self-interest\u2014the lucrative slave trade of Africans\u2014came first, and <\/strong>then<\/em><\/strong> race was invented<\/a> to justify the policy. <\/strong>Racist ideas came last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before we examine these events in more detail, we need to understand why<\/em> the order of these events matters. There are two primary reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. The fact that discriminatory policies came before<\/em> the idea of race shows that race is not an inherent, biological quality. Rather, it\u2019s a social construct<\/a> invented by those in power to maintain and perpetuate that power.<\/li>
    2. Many people think that colorblindness, not \u201cseeing\u201d race, is a solution to racism. However, this idea is misguided. If the concept of race had produced <\/em>racist policies, eradicating race as a means of eradicating racism might make sense. But, just as the invention of race<\/a> came after<\/em> the implementation of racist policies, we can only dispense with the idea of race after <\/em>we\u2019ve gotten rid of racist policies\u2014if we start at the wrong end and get rid of race first, we\u2019ll fail to see that some policies negatively impact certain racial groups. Eradicating race may be one of the last steps of creating an equitable society, but it\u2019s certainly not the first.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Racism, Antiracism, and the Myth of Neutrality<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Now that we understand that we understand that racist policies created out of self-interest are the root cause of racism, we can understand racism and antiracism more precisely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Racism<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

      How to Be an Antiracist<\/em> by Ibram X. Kendi defines racism <\/em>as a combination of racist policies and ideas that causes and maintains racial inequities. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      An example of a racist idea is the generally held belief that Black people are more dangerous than White people. Growing up, Ibram believed in this idea and was constantly scared that the other Black kids at his school would beat him up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      An example of a racist policy<\/a> was the one in Ohio that required newly registered voters in the 2004 federal election to submit their voter-registration forms on a particular kind of expensive paper, which made it harder to register. The policy appeared to target all<\/em> newly registered voters, irrespective of race, but a large percentage of newly registered voters were Black, meaning the policy promoted racial inequity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Antiracism<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

      How to Be an Antiracist<\/em> by Ibram X. Kendi defines antiracism <\/em>as a collection of antiracist policies and ideas that cause racial equity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      An example of an antiracist idea is the belief that no race\u2019s culture or subculture is better than any other\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Examples of antiracist policies are the Immigration and Nationality Act (1965), the Refugee Act (1980), and the Immigration Act (1900), all of which encouraged immigration to the US from non-European countries. Although, in various ways, these acts favored non-Europeans over European immigrants, the acts were antiracist rather than racist because they promoted equity among immigrant groups. In other words, they aimed to rectify the current and historical imbalance that favored White immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Step #2: Become Aware of Subtle Racist Ideas You Might Be Supporting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Like Ibram, most of us live in a society created by racist policies and racist ideas. All of us internalize these ideas to some extent, and a large part of becoming antiracist is reflecting on our beliefs and recognizing what racist ideas we hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      There are many different types of racism<\/a>, each based on different racist ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Ethnic Racism<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Ethnic racism<\/a><\/strong> is a combination of racist policies that causes racial inequities between racialized ethnic groups. These policies are supported by racist ideas about the differences between racialized ethnic groups, the main idea being the belief that there\u2019s a hierarchy within races\u2014certain ethnic groups within a race are superior or inferior to others within the same race.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n