Research Guides: Racial Justice Resources for Activists, Advocates &amp; Allies: Anti-racism

Anti-racism

What is “anti-racism” and why does it matter?
“Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably” (attributed to NAC International Perspectives: Women and Global Solidarity).

Why Fight Racism?

Racism harms not just the lives of those who endure it but also society as a whole. It deepens mistrust, casting suspicion on all sides and tearing apart the social fabric. Like COVID-19, racism and xenophobia are contagious killers. We need to come together and continue working for the common good with conviction and determination.(U.N.)

"To be antiracist is a radical choice in the face of history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness." -Ibram Kendi "How to be an Antiracist"

Race does not biologically exist, yet how we identify with race is so powerful, it influences our experiences and shapes our lives. In a society that privileges white people and whiteness, racist ideas are considered normal throughout our media, culture, social systems, and institutions. Historically, racist views justified the unfair treatment and oppression of people of color (including enslavement, segregation, internment, etc.). We can be led to believe that racism is only about individual mindsets and actions, yet racist policies also contribute to our polarization. While individual choices are damaging, racist ideas in policy have a wide-spread impact by threatening the equity of our systems and the fairness of our institutions. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives.-Talking About Race

Anti-racism web resources

30-Day Anti-Racism Challenge: Self Learning Resources for White People (West End House)
Each box is linked to resources. Challenge is from West End House (www.westendhouse.com), a community organization in Boston, Massachusetts dedicated to enabling young people to realize their full potential.
Anti-racist Roadmap (Kate Slater)
What does it mean to “do the work”? The Anti-Racist Roadmap helps you focus your time, energy, and resources in the movement towards racial justice.
Fight Racism (United Nations)
Every day, each and every one of us can stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes.
Let’s build a world beyond racism and discrimination, where we all exercise our human rights.
Be a human rights champion! Join us in fighting racism!
Self-Reflection
Day-by-Day Challenges [CECH Libguide]
Dismantling Racism work books

Anti-racism toolkits

Antiracism Toolkit for Allies
This guide is the second in a series of antiracism toolkits for scholarly publishing. The first, the Antiracism Toolkit for Allies, was published in August 2020 and includes an introduction that provides the foundation for this project. The third, the Antiracism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, is forthcoming as of the publication of this guide.
Antiracism Toolkit for Organizations
The Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communication (C4DISC) recently released their Anti-Racism Toolkit for Organizations, the second installment of a three-part series that includes the Anti-Racism Kit for Allies published last year.

Anti-racism books

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
ISBN: 9780812993547
Publication Date: 2015-07-14
Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men--bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
But I Don't See Color: the perils, practices, and possibilities of antiracist education by Terry Husband (Volume Editor)
ISBN: 9789463005852
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
acism is still very prevalent and pervasive in all aspects of the P-12 educational experience in the United States. Far too many teachers and administrators continue to respond to this challenge by applying colorblind perspectives and approaches. This edited volume provides a broad and comprehensive critique of colorblindness in various educational contexts.
Caste: the origins of our discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
ISBN: 9780593230268
Publication Date: 2020-08-04
Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more.
Dismantling Race in Higher Education: racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy by Jason Arday (Editor); Heidi Safia Mirza (Editor); Heidi Safia Mirza (Editor)
ISBN: 9783319602608
Publication Date: 2018-09-19
The book also discusses why British racial equality legislation has failed to address racism, and explores what the Black student movement is doing about this. As the authors powerfully argue, it is only by dismantling the invisible architecture of post-colonial white privilege that the 21st century struggle for a truly decolonised academy can begin. This collection will be essential reading for students and academics working in the fields of Education, Sociology, and Race.
Dispatches from the Race War by Tim Wise
Call Number: LANGSAM Cohen E184.A1 W574 2020
ISBN: 9780872868090
Publication Date: 2020-12-01
Tim Wise confronts racism in contemporary America. Seen through the lens of major flashpoints during the Obama and Trump years, Dispatches from the Race War faces the consequences of white supremacy in all its forms. This includes a discussion of the bigoted undertones of the Tea Party's backlash, the killing of Trayvon Martin, current day anti-immigrant hysteria, the rise of openly avowed white nationalism, the violent policing of African Americans, and more. Wise devotes a substantial portion of the book to explore the racial ramifications of COVID-19, and the widespread protests which followed the police murder of George Floyd. Concise, accessible chapters, most written in first-person, offer an excellent source for those engaged in the anti-racism struggle. Tim Wise's proactive approach asks white allies to contend with—and take responsibility for—their own role in perpetuating racism against Blacks and people of color.
Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
Call Number: LANGSAM Cohen HQ1413.C67 C67 2018
ISBN: 9781250112576
Publication Date: 2018-02-20
So what if it's true that Black women are mad as hell? They have the right to be. In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Brittney Cooper reminds us that anger is a powerful source of energy that can give us the strength to keep on fighting. Far too often, Black women's anger has been caricatured into an ugly and destructive force that threatens the civility and social fabric of American democracy.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis; Frank Barat (Editor); Cornel West (Preface by)
ISBN: 9781608465651
Publication Date: 2016-01-25
Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world.

Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today's struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine.
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Call Number: http://uclid.uc.edu/record=b6896252~S39
ISBN: 9780525509288
Publication Date: 2019-08-13
"The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it -- and then dismantle it.." Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas--from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities--that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.
Me and White Supremacy: combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor by Layla F. Saad’s
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9781728209821
Publication Date: 2020
this eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Call Number: LANGSAM Cohen E184.A1 O454 2018
ISBN: 9781580056779
Publication Date: 2018-01-16
A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today's racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide. In So You Want to Talk About Race, Editor at Large of The Establishment, Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the "N" word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don't dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo; Michael Eric Dyson (Foreword by)
Call Number: LANGSAM HT1521 .D486
ISBN: 9780807047415
Publication Date: 2018-06-26
Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.