Books to Check Your White Privilege
‘Cause it’s about time.
by Janna Jesson
For some, it can be easy to see racism as random, individual, and uncommon acts against people of color. But ask any person of color, and they’ll have a different perspective based on their lived experiences. White privilege can act as a sort of blinder that way, skewing a person’s perspective and impeding them from seeing their inherent advantages over others. Recognizing one’s own white privilege can help in the process of dismantling inequality and injustice in society. So head on over to your local bookstore and pick up these excellent reads to give you perspective on the realities of others.
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Award-winning journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote about her frustration with the way that discussions of race and racism in Britain were being led by those who weren’t affected by it.
How to be Less Stupid About Race by Crystal M. Fleming
How to Be Less Stupid About Race is your essential guide to breaking through the half-truths and ridiculous misconceptions that have thoroughly corrupted the way race is represented in the classroom, pop culture, media, and politics.
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
When They Call You a Terrorist is Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele’s reflection on humanity. It is an empowering account of survival, strength and resilience and a call to action to change the culture that declares innocent Black life expendable.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today’s racial landscape — from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement — offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
Compelling and dramatic in the unimpeachable history it relates, White Rage will add an important new dimension to the national conversation about race in America.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control — relegating millions to a permanent second-class status — even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness.
Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
From the widely revered and legendary political activist and scholar Angela Davis comes a powerful study of the women’s liberation movement in the U.S., from abolitionist days to the present, that demonstrates how it has always been hampered by the racist and classist biases of its leaders.
