Recommended Readings: Understanding Racism & White Privilege
An African American and Latinx History of the United States by ISBN: 9780807013908Ebook available on Overdrive
Between the World and Me by ISBN: 9780812993547Publication Date: 2015-07-14Ebook available on Overdrive
The Condemnation of Blackness by ISBN: 9780674054325Publication Date: 2010-07-15Available in print and as an ebook.
The Fire This Time by ISBN: 9781501126345Publication Date: 2016-08-02Audiobook available via Overdrive
How to Be an Antiracist by ISBN: 9780525509288Publication Date: 2019-08-13Ebook available on Overdrive
Lies My Teacher Told Me by ISBN: 9781595583260Publication Date: 2008-04-08Available in print and as an ebook.
Me and White Supremacy by ISBN: 9781728209807Publication Date: 2020-01-28Audiobook available on Overdrive
On Privilege, Fraudulence, and Teaching As Learning by ISBN: 9781351133777Publication Date: 2019-07-04Ebook available.
A People's History of the United States by ISBN: 9780060907921Publication Date: 1980-09-01Ebook available
Race and the Making of American Political Science by ISBN: 9780812294897Publication Date: 2018-03-13Available as an ebook.
Race Traitor by ISBN: 9781136665264Publication Date: 2014-03-05Ebook available. Please note that chapter download is tricky for this title; it's recommended to download the entire book, or read online.
Sister Citizen by ISBN: 9780300165418Publication Date: 2011-09-20Available in print and as an ebook.
So You Want to Talk about Race by ISBN: 9781580056779Publication Date: 2018-01-16Available in print and as an ebook.
Stamped from the Beginning by ISBN: 9781568584638Publication Date: 2016-04-12Available only in print.
Tears We Cannot Stop by ISBN: 9781250135995Publication Date: 2017-01-17Audiobook available on Overdrive
The Warmth of Other Suns by ISBN: 9780679444329Publication Date: 2010-09-07Available in print and on Overdrive.
When Affirmative Action Was White by ISBN: 9780393052138Publication Date: 2005-08-22Ebook available.
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by ISBN: 9780465083619Publication Date: 2003-01-17Available in print and as an ebook.
Your Black Friend and Other Strangers by Call Number: E185.625 .P377 2018ISBN: 9781945509209Publication Date: 2018-04-15
Racism & Technology
Algorithms of Oppression by ISBN: 9781479837243Publication Date: 2018-02-20Ebook available on Overdrive
Autobiographies, Biographies, & Memoirs
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by ISBN: 9781101967805Publication Date: 1969-05-12Originally published by Grove Press in 1965. Ebook available on Overdrive.
Coming of Age in Mississippi by ISBN: 9780385337816Publication Date: 2004-02-03Available only in print.
Fannie Lou Hamer : America's freedom fighting woman by ISBN: 9781538115954Publication Date: 2020Ebook available.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by ISBN: 9780394429861Publication Date: 1970-01-12Only available in print
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by ISBN: 9780393976373Publication Date: 2000-12-13Ebook available via Overdrive.
In Search of Our Mother's Gardens by ISBN: 9780151445257Publication Date: 1983-10-10Available in print only.
The Other Side of Paradise by ISBN: 9780743292917Publication Date: 2010-02-09Only available in print.
Poetry & Essays
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 by ISBN: 9781942683001Publication Date: 2015-06-20Ebook available on Overdrive
This Bridge Called My Back by ISBN: 9780913175033Publication Date: 1983-03-01Only available in print.
Fiction of Interest
The Hate U Give by ISBN: 9780062498557Publication Date: 2017-02-28Available in print and as an ebook.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by ISBN: 9780252017780Publication Date: 1991-10-01Available only in print.
Open Access Books to Check Out
One major collection of antiracist texts have been made available through Project MUSE. Click on the link here to explore, and note that the titles in the Project MUSE collection are searchable in the College Library's Discover tool.
Slide deck: Working Towards Antiracism and Culturally Responsive Teaching in Open Education.
Current & Historical Newspapers
Curious about coverage for past protests and police brutalities?
Visit https://library.fandm.edu/newspapers for a list of popular titles and availability at the library.
Use these Library databases to view current and historic newspapers:
- African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 by Newsbank This link opens in a new windowOne-of-a-kind record of African American history, culture, and daily life. Covers life in the Antebellum South through the Civil Rights movement and more.
- America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFully searchable, cover-to-cover reproductions of early American newspapers including titles from all 50 present states. Includes: Early American Newspapers, Series 1 (1690-1876), Early American Newspapers, Series 2 (1758-1900) and Early American Newspapers, Series 3 (1829-1922).
- Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new windowNexis Uni features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790—with an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
Zines
For a collection of digital zines that speak to race, policing, and activism, visit the Sherwood Forest Zine Library's website.
Relevant Articles & Essays
- 10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship by Mireille Cassandra HarperReproduced from Twitter on UK Vogue.
- The American Nightmare by Ibram X. KendiFrom The Atlantic
- An Antiracist Reading List by Ibram X. KendiFrom the New York Times
- Black History in Three Acts by Robin D. G. KellyFrom The Boston Review
- Black Squares Don't Save Black Lives by Kambole CampbellFrom Hyperallergic
- The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi CoatesFrom The Atlantic
- The Disappearing Backlash to Black Lives Matter by Osita NwanevuFrom The Soapbox
- Making Sense of the Senseless by Colleen FlahertyFrom Inside Higher Ed
- Why People Loot by Olga KhazanFrom The Atlantic
Student Recommendations
Woke Racism by
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed linguist John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric. Americans of good will on both the left and the right are secretly asking themselves the same question: how has the conversation on race in America gone so crazy? We're told to read books and listen to music by people of color but that wearing certain clothes is "appropriation." We hear that being white automatically gives you privilege and that being Black makes you a victim. We want to speak up but fear we'll be seen as unwoke, or worse, labeled a racist. According to John McWhorter, the problem is that a well-meaning but pernicious form of antiracism has become, not a progressive ideology, but a religion--and one that's illogical, unreachable, and unintentionally neoracist. In Woke Racism, McWhorter reveals the workings of this new religion, from the original sin of "white privilege" and the weaponization of cancel culture to ban heretics, to the evangelical fervor of the "woke mob." He shows how this religion that claims to "dismantle racist structures" is actually harming his fellow Black Americans by infantilizing Black people, setting Black students up for failure, and passing policies that disproportionately damage Black communities. The new religion might be called "antiracism," but it features a racial essentialism that's barely distinguishable from racist arguments of the past. Fortunately for Black America, and for all of us, it's not too late to push back against woke racism. McWhorter shares scripts and encouragement with those trying to deprogram friends and family. And most importantly, he offers a roadmap to justice that actually will help, not hurt, Black America.
ISBN: 9780593423066Publication Date: 2021-10-26
Still want more?
Check out these resource compilations:
- Library Journal's Antiracism: A Starter Booklist
- Antiracism Resources via Twitter
- The Schomberg Center Black Liberation Reading List
And look for these suggested book titles. Credit for the images below goes to Victoria Alexander on Twitter at @victoriaalxndr
