This book seriously made me rethink a lot of my actions and beliefs. I can't lie by saying I understood every thing the author said but for sure I'll be re-reading it to get a better understanding.

It is a heavy book, it's hard to process in just one try. I'm commiting to try more and do my work as to change for good with this book's teachings.

I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for this free copy in exchange of an honest and unbiased review.

I think for anyone wanting to educate them self on race issues, this is a great book. It's both informative yet personal, and it's definitely eye-opening. I can guarantee you'll learn from this, no matter how much you think you know.

This is a well thought-out and stunning combination of social history, law, science and ethics taking us passionately through Kendi's journey from internalised racism to anti-racist. There is a lot of good and fascinating work in this book where areas such as Power, Ethnicity are broken down with factual and evidence-based rationale. This book is intended to be read by someone who is keen to learn more about how to confront their own privileges and become an ally to the black community.

I did enjoy reading this book, however at 44% I have had to call it a day. The book is centred on America and American racism and American politics, which makes it a little difficult to understand if you do not have a good knowledge of how society works over there, particularly the voting system. I felt that it was a shame the book did not link you to resources with a summary or overview of how an election works over there, for example. I lost a lot of the nuance in the text over such points.

The book is also quite dry and I found it quite a challenge to keep reading, as I needed to reread paragraphs several times to make sure I understood the point Kendi was making, as he uses a technical/academic style of writing, which I suppose reflects his professional background.

This book undoubtedly has some excellent information in it and I am sure that I will come back to it again to continue my education in antiracism.

I was curious about this book after hearing the author on Brené Brown's podcast where he was most eloquent in talking about how its not enough to be non-racist you need to be anti-racist, to be more aware of how racist American society is. The book started well with a thorough description of the origins of slavery and how racism and capitalism became 'conjoined twins'. He has cleverly split the book into 19 chapters to cover various topics such as ethnicity, biology, body, culture, some work better than others; chapters on space, failure, gender and sexuality I particularly enjoyed. Each chapter starts with descriptions of the racist notion and then the anti racist notion which is then repeated in the opening paragraphs, I suspect that this is intended for people who are new to these concepts but as someone with some awareness I found them distracting. There is also a flatness in the writing which I understood better when I read the last chapter, survival, which possibly reflects his desire to capture all of the thoughts, ideas and reading he had done. I found there wasn't anything in here I hadn't read before but I would recommend this book to anyone who is new to reading around racism and anti racism and would like to understand more about the current position in America.


With thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Kendi brings forward so many important issues in this book, speaking about how you shouldn't be 'not racist' as it is just a way of avoiding race altogether and refusing to acknowledge racism, but instead you should strive to be 'antiracist'. He speaks about his life growing up and how his life is affected due to his race, and whilst doing this he weaves through important topics, stemming from his experiences.
He touches on sexism, race, poverty, classism and so much more, talking about it in an informative and engaging way that is still accessible.

I strive to be antiracist and this is just a step in that direction. This book is a brilliant eye opener and way to keep yourself informed. I urge anyone to read this.

🤯🧠WOW...the intellectual, emotional and social awareness gained from this book is something else. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a text that has profoundly impacted me.
•
Notes and highlights throughout, I can relate to @jordys.book.club who inspired me to pick this one up as essential reading, which it absolutely is.
————————
Part memoir, Kendi takes you on his journey of self discovery and growth towards being an Antiracist. Intelligently dismantling our understanding of what constitutes racism, analysing route causes and the depths to which racism is engrained in society, whilst laying the foundations for active change (change that needs constant, repetitive work).
•
Naively I didn’t know that racism was so multifaceted and a fluid identity; spanning power, biology, culture, class, space, gender and sexuality to name a few.
•
Underpinned by history of the slave trade and inherently racist policy and law, for political and economic gains (self interest) even today. There is so much more to say but I think people need to read for themselves.
•
HTBAA is a challenging read in some regards, not one you can whizz through and has quite an academic style to it given Kendi’s profession. 100% would recommend as essential reading for all with the capacity to learn and change for the better. This is just the start our education - never lose hope of freedom and a better world for all.

“The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'anti-racist.' What's the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an anti-racist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist.’”

Anti racism isn’t a task to complete, it’s a constant questioning, re-evaluating, a process of learning.... for life.

This book isn’t a how to guide. For that you have to look within yourself, your own responses, your responses to the people around you. You can’t read a book and become anti racist. It requires constant work.

This is an incredibly dense and informative book; part memoir, part anti racist curriculum.

It’s passionate, informative and accessible. Whilst it focuses on US racism and politics there is much of it that is universally relevant.

I highly recommend this book, there is so much to learn from it.

I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while and I’m so glad I finally picked it up. It’s a non-fiction book that is about how it’s not enough to just be not racist, we have to actively be anti-racist. The author examines his own thoughts and emotions on the subject and provokes the reader to think about their own ideas. Each chapter is on a different subject and opens with a brief description of the main terms used. I really liked how the book is set out and it meant I could read a chapter and then put the book down and take time to digest what I’d read before moving on to the next chapter. This is a US book but I still found it really enlightening as a British person living in the UK. It made me feel so much more empowered to be more pro-active as an anti-racist, and to speak out more when I see racist behaviour. I recommend this one and now I’m keen to start reading the author’s previous book Stamped From The Beginning.

I was keen to pick up this book and hopefully learn something to take away and help “change the world”.
Unfortunately I have been left disappointed. This is a hard read - in more ways than one.
Readers should note that the book is written entirely from an American perspective, and based upon American society.
The positives aspects I enjoyed are:
I liked the autobiographical parts from the author which were interestingly woven between the “teaching” parts of the book.
There are some very interesting sections which explain historical events and also the thinking and policies of historical political leaders and influential people. These are interesting but it is also disturbing and shocking at times to see what their thoughts, words and actions were. It certainly helps the reader to understand how far back racism first showed itself and how deeply ingrained into every aspect of society racism is, even when it is not immediately recognisable.
Unfortunately the negatives of this book were that it read very like a social studies text book that at times made me feel like I needed to be sat in a lecture theatre with “intellectual” people who would debate the issues.
It was not an easy read, and became quite confusing in places as the issues were repeated and hammered home.
Ultimately I understood everything that the author was trying to say, I feel I have learnt a bit, but it has been a hard slog to reach 55% into the book and this is where I have decided to leave it. It is just too much hard work - it felt like I should be nearing the end but I was only 45% in.
In all honesty, I’ve half skimmed over the last 10% before deciding to give up. I might return to it at some point in the future.
It’s a real shame because if the writing had been less “academic” and the issues had been written in a more easily accessible manner (for those who maybe haven’t got a host of post-grad qualifications) then this book could be a valuable resource for change.
I rated it a generous 3⭐️ but did not finish. I wouldn’t recommend this book unless you are looking for a fact heavy, academic tome which can be intellectually debated at the local university social club.

This is not a book you read as fast as you can because it makes you stop and think about what you're reading and reflect about your own experience and prejudices.
It's like being punched and seeing new aspects of yourself.
A book I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Part educational primer, part call to arms, entirely passionate, How To Be an Antiracist blends the author's personal journey of unravelling, naming, and overcoming his own prejudices to lay out a manifesto for becoming an antiracist.
The opposite of racist isn't not racist, that's an acceptance of the status quo and entirely ineffective. The opposite of racist is antiracist, actively working to dismantle the status quo and the power structures which enable discrimination to embed itself in every aspect of our lives. Written largely from a US perspective, Kendi's lessons are nonetheless applicable to Western power structures as we see them in our everyday lives. Over the course of eighteen distinct chapters, Kendi lays out what racism is, how racism insinuates itself into everyday life, what racist ideals create and how they impact our perception of people, cultures, behaviour, bodies, and ethnicities, and then moves on to look at how racism intertwines with other marginalised identities - class, space, gender, sexuality. Finally, Kendi looks at what both success and failure in being an antiracist look like, and what the survival of American society would be to become an antiracist society. The book, although written by an academic and packed with academic references, reads easily, and is accessible throughout. Most chapters start with two definitions, laying out what racist and antiracist perceptions of different aspects of people and groups look like. Kendi dives deep into intersectionality, exploring the inextricable links between, for example, race and class, and the double burden of class racism, how this places additional burdens on, for example, poor Black people. He intertwines his delineation of the complex, multifaceted nature of racism and what is required to be an antiracist with his own personal narrative, pointing out how he himself discovered and examined his own prejudices and blindness, and worked to overcome them. Never preachy, and laudable in its goals, How To Be an Antiracist is a primer on racism, antiracism, and the manifold iterations of racism that can creep into mindsets and society.

That said, there were a few aspects of this book I found a little disappointing. While the deconstruction of race-class lines, race-gender lines, race-sexuality lines, and race-space lines was really interesting, the narrative felt, to me, a little repetitive. Perhaps this was a deliberate choice which jarred with me as dull, rather than impactful - it's entirely possible that Kendi elected to repeat his sentence structures, particularly where outlining that capitalism and racism are twin burdens, to ensure that his point was hammered home. It may well just be that I didn't really feel the impact of that and found it jarring instead because I'm a luddite. I admit this could entirely be on me, and not a flaw in the book itself. It's just something I didn't like.

The other two points I disliked were largely terminology-related. Kendi names chapter 15 'sexuality' and then talks about what he dubs 'queer racism'. I strongly dislike this term, because it is out of step with the other labels Kendi uses. Taking, for example, gender racism or class racism, these terms encompass the nature of the intersection between racism and other discrimination - class and race, or gender and race. Queer racism, on the other hand, takes the identity of the marginalised group and centres it in his titling. 'Queer racism' sounds like only people who identify as queer are perpetrating this racism, as opposed to racism which intersects with discrimination against people who identify as queer. It feels, to me, a little like calling it 'black racism' or 'poor people racism'. Rather than highlighting the dual burden that queer PoC suffer, it does the opposite, and makes those queer people sound like they're the racists! (Not that queer people can't be racists - of course they can!)

In the same vein, while Kendi names chapter 15 'sexuality', the racism intersection he discusses here includes the full LGBT+ spectrum - that is, he includes both gender identity and sexuality. In fact, Kendi specifically mentions the Black trans women on whose effort the Stonewall riots and the movement for LGBT rights was built. But if, in titling his name for this intersection 'queer racism', and specifically mentioning Black trans women in his chapter, Kendi is encompassing the full LGBT spectrum, why is the chapter only called sexuality? Sexuality and gender identity are not the same thing. You can be a Black trans straight woman. Given Kendi's otherwise clear grasp of any areas of discrimination, I found it bewildering and really quite disappointing that gender identity was lumped in with the title 'Sexuality'. And that's not to say that I don't believe they belong in the same chapter, or that they're not related forms of discrimination. Of course they are. There's a reason why the acronym is LGBT+, the T is there for a reason. My issue here is specifically with the use of 'Sexuality' as the chapter title when gender identity is specifically included, and Kendi uses 'queer racism' as the title for that discrimination intersection - he doesn't called it 'sexuality racism', so why is the chapter called sexuality?

Those terminology-related quibbles aside, though, this is an honest and thorough look at racism and how to be an antiracist, blended with the personal story of the author, which hits hard, and lands impactfully. If your antiracism isn't also feminist, it's not antiracism. If you're not anti-class discrimination, you're not antiracist. And if you're 'not racist', that's not enough - you must be antiracist, to actively work against the power structures which are embedded in our society and embrace a new structure which is altogether more equal.

do you know when a cartoon character is about to faint and their head keeps going round and round and round? that's how i felt whilst reading this book because, whilst the information it imparted was *amazing*, the writing style was so cyclical and repetitive that it sometimes encroached on unbearable

As a white, British, straight women this was essential reading.
It’s also a book I will read more than once. I think it’s so important to challenge your own beliefs and naiveties when it comes to being anti racist rather than just ‘not racist’ and also challenging those beliefs that because you’re a ‘good person’ you can do no wrong.

A brilliant book that dissects racism, assimilation and Anti-Racism action and concepts in to individual intersections and explores how these operate and how they can be overcome. This is interspersed with his own experiences growing up in America and his own changes in opinions and approaches to tackling racism at an individual and a systemic level. I've read many books on these themes and I always find new things to consider and find differing approaches to some theories, this was no different, there were discussions that were at odds with other antiracist points of view I've read and controversial or not this gives you another perspective at times

I have reviewed this book as part of my June Reading Wrap Up on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/EeHywG9jLmg

It has also featured in a book haul (https://youtu.be/qfHiiOeGHwQ) and currently reading video (https://youtu.be/BpEv_KgU6JM)

Thank you!

Such a spectacular book, such a relevant read right now, a well written and informative book for a very important topic. If you haven't read it or a book like it pick it up now.

Educate yourself, support, be antiracist. Anything else is inexcusable.

This fluently crafted blend of biography and autobiography, history, narrative and storytelling is structured round a series of definitions that navigate the reader through how to be an anti-racist. Passionate and authoritative, Kendi uses James Baldwin's quote early in the book to remind us of our collective and individual responsibility to create change: "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." Kendi wastes no time bringing the reader face to face with the cumulative disadvantage faced by people of colour, through careful, systematic breakdown of the multiple intersecting issues. This can be overwhelming for the reader, particularly anyone who thinks of themselves as inclusive and not racist, but a key theme of Kendi's book is the distinction between being 'not racist' and 'anti-racist' and the need to move from the latter to the former. What this book does well, encouraging anyone who wants to be part of a culture of change but doesn't know where to start, is to state clearly that anti-racism is the solution but to acknowledge that it is always a journey. As Kendi notes "What we say about race, what we do about race...determines what - not who - we are." In other words, we can be anti-racist through simple conscious actions, challenging ourselves to look harder and see what we take for granted differently.

Kendi honestly examines his personal experiences, allowing the reader to view his own past prejudices and vulnerabilities. Though it is a fairly scholarly book, well written and evidenced, this addition of autobiographical segments means that it didn’t read too much like a textbook. How To Be Antiracist highlights a wide spectrum of racist ideas and policies, breaks down these ideas and addresses how to fight against them in order to be actively anti-racist. Though it primarily dissects American racism, this book still posits ideas that can be translated to racism in general. This might be the most highlighted and annotated book in my kindle library- very powerful and thought-provoking. I highly recommend this and I believe a lot of people could benefit from reading this book.

As a post-grad student writing my final master's thesis about the fear of the unknown in H. P. Lovecraft's works, I once argued that there was much more xenophobia than there was racism in Lovecraft's writings. If, before making such an assertion, I'd done as good a job of defining the terms I was using as Ibram X. Kendi does in How To Be an Antiracist, I would have realised straightaway how wrong I was: there is of course both xenophobia and racism in equal measure in Lovecraft's works.

How To Be an Antiracist is an arresting reflection on the mechanisms of racism, an outstanding piece of research, an unflinching account of awe-inspiring honesty and humility, all in one. It is truly an eye-opener of a book to be put into everyone's hands. A book that reminds us that we are all in this together: people of colour, ethnic minorities, cultural minorities, women, queer people, poor people... All discriminated against, all demonised by the the powers that be at one point or another. How To Be an Antiracist tells us that change is possible, and that it can only happen if we fight for it, both individually and collectively.

A book of our time; the writing is clear, concise and intelligently executed. The title is certainly one that shouldn't be overlooked, should not be taken lightly until the pages have been consumed.

There's a lot to be learned from the passages within and Kendi leaves no stone unturned, ask yourself, is there a time to ever stop your education? No. So, what this book does is it takes you from the comfort of non-action and thoroughly teaches you how to be part of the change, how to move your life from looking, and watching, to doing and achieving.

We cannot make change if with just agreement, it has to be by the suggested steps that Kendi outlines in this novel. I learned a lot and I would recommend it to EVERYONE and am recommending it to everyone. This is a call to action, read this book.