In honor of Juneteenth 2020, I've committed to educating myself on
systemic racism, discrimination, and bias. Every day from June 19, 2020
to June 18, 2021, I will read an article or book chapter, listen to a
podcast, watch a movie or documentary, view a webinar, or do something
substantive to educate myself in these areas. As part of that
commitment, I will post to this blog each Friday with a list of what
I've done over the past week as well as any pertinent thoughts or
reflections.
Today's post covers the week of August 7-13, 2020.
Racism has a Cost for Everyone
Economic policy wonk Heather McGhee recounts an appearance on live TV where a White caller (Gary from North Carolina) acknowledged his prejudice and asked her what he could do to improve himself. The interaction led her to investigate the consequences of racist public policies and their crippling effects on Whites, Blacks and other people of color. This TED Talk runs 14 minutes.
How to be an Antiracist
I finished the book How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X.
Kendi and included a link to his website here. I read the first eight chapters last week and two more chapters per day over five days this week. I found myself challenged by some of Kendi's ideas - particularly the anticapitalism discussion in Chapter 12 - but I also felt it was important to try to understand his point of view.
Chapter 9 (Color) discusses the dueling consciousness of assimilationist and antiracist ideas and the discrimination that exists within and among racial groups based on skin tone. Chapter 10 (White) disentangles racism from race and discusses the toll of racist policies on both the oppressed and the oppressor. "White supremacists love what America used to be, even though America used to be - and still is - teeming with millions of struggling White people."
Chapter 11 (Black) reveals how group identities lead to racial hierarchies and also challenges the "powerless defense" of the late 1960s. Chapter 12 (Class) focuses on the concept of class racism, or the intersection of SES and race. W.E.B Du Bois's "wage of Whiteness" is discussed, along with differences in Black and White poverty statistics. Kendi is clearly anticapitalist - "To love capitalism is to end up loving racism." His definition of the term is rooted not in the ideals of capitalism, but rather in how he's seen it function in the US.
Chapter 13 (Space) talks about different spaces and subsequent judgments associated with race, including schools, neighborhoods, and community assets. Chapter 14 (Gender) discusses the intersection of race and gender. He quotes Kimberle Crenshaw - "Although racism and sexism readily intersect in the lives of real people, they seldom do in feminist and antiracist practices."
Chapter 15 (Sexuality) expands upon the discussion of the previous chapter through the inclusion of LGBTQ+ communities and the multiple intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Chapter 16 (Failure) recounts Kendi's failure in graduate school to mobilize a demonstration and how that led him to a new understanding of effective organizing and protest.
The final two chapters in the book (Success and Survival) offer a glimpse of what an antiracist world may look like, a caution to always remain open to new ideas and change - even as an antiracist - and an account of Kendi's battle with Stage 4 colon cancer and his wife Sadiqa's survival of breast cancer. Kendi finishes with an analogy of society's commitment to fighting metastatic cancer and the spread of racism and hate. If we become similarly committed to fighting the policies and structures that perpetuate racism, we'll have a chance at an antiracist future.
History of the Black Experience (August 6)
Dr. Leonard Moore's final lecture covers the Black Power Movement and Black athletes. He notes the similarities in political rhetoric and protest between the summer of 1968 and the summer of 2020. Dr. Moore discusses the needs and demands of Black students at predominately White institutions and how those needs have changed (or stayed the same). He finishes with a discussion of college and professional athletes, their history of protest, and the current situation around pay to play and organization of college athletes. Total lecture time is 87 minutes.
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