Over the last year, I, like many other white people, have been introduced to more and more of the systemic racist issues many BIPOC people face in our society. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I did not know the extent of what these brothers and sisters go through in the US and I still have a lot to learn. And I know I will never learn it all. I will always have privilege. I will never truly know others’ experiences. But I can keep learning through antiracist books and keep doing what I can with the knowledge I learn.

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So today, with just over a week left of Black History Month, I want to share some of the books I’ve been reading about antiracism. I’m writing this post to help other white friends who want to educate themselves about what our BIPOC friends have to deal with.

“Reading opens you up. It exposes you and gives you access to anything your mind can hold. It gives you the ability to reach higher ground.” – Oprah Winfrey

20 Antiracist Books

This is an exhaustive list of what I’ve read:

*Unfortunately, I did not plan on writing this post when I read each of these so I did not write reviews immediately after reading them. I really wish I did. I am writing these somewhat vague reviews based on what I remember.

ONE || White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo (5/5 stars)

At first I was hesitant about this one because it was written by a white person. But I kept hearing that I should read it. Robin DiAngelo has a PhD in Multicultural Education and 20 years of experience as a consultant, educator and facilitator on issues of racial and social justice. Therefore, she thought it important to write this book for fellow white people from a white perspective and I’m glad she did. She even talks about some of her own mistakes and her own growth in the book. This was a great start to my anti-racism homework. It was somewhat of a wake-up call.

TWO || How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (2/5 stars)

This book was a little tough to swallow at times. But was glad to hear Ibran X. Kendi’s experience. It’s important to listen to BIPOC voices, even if it makes me uncomfortable or if I don’t agree with all of it and even if I know of other black people who also disagree.

Regardless of the points I thought were a little problematic, this is such an important book. It addresses the fact that people are either racist or antiracist. There is no in between. Being silently ‘not racist’ is to be complicit in our systemically racist society.

THREE || The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (5/5 stars)

This book awakened a passion in me for prison, and police reform. I’ve been obsessed with the world of true crime for a while now and I’ve always known that our justice system here in the US is crap, quite frankly. But this book just drove the concept of mass incarceration home for me. This is the social justice issue that I care the most about and I am doing what I can (by voting and voicing my opinions to my elected officials) to help fix the problems. Thankfully, Oregon recently decriminalized minor drug offences with the last election and I am so excited!

Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anybody and everybody. Especially if you disagree with or are confused about the new laws surrounding drugs and prison or the calls to defund the police.

FOUR || Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (5/5 stars)

This book wrecked me. I cried a lot while reading it. It’s a true story about an innocent black man on death row in Alabama. Bryan Stevenson writes about his experience representing this man and others in his situation.

This book is different from some of the others on this list because it followed a few real life stories. It made the issues personal and brought them home to my heart in a real way. I highly recommend it!

FIVE || The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formulation for the Sake of Our Neighbor by Kaitlyn Schiess (3/5 stars)

This book is not specifically about racism but it is about religion, politics and social justice which all encompass race. It was also written by a white woman but I wanted to read it because it sounded like Kaitlyn Schiess grew up in a similar situation as myself.

In this book she explores the political legacy that Evangelicals have shaped from it’s habits and practices. She puts forth that the church isn’t even aware of the politics it has formed and that the way out is to go back to the gospel.

I only gave it 3 out of 5 stars because I personally had a hard time following all of the research. And I honestly didn’t learn anything new. Or not much anyway. But I do recommend this book to other people who were raised in the evangelical church who might be questioning their politics.

SIX || Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coats (4/5 stars)

This is another heartbreaking book. Though, of course all of these are heartbreaking. This essay takes the form of a letter that Ta-Nehisi Coats writes to his son, warning him about race in America. And that makes it all the more heartwrenching.

This is not an exhaustive list of what I’m still planning to read:

1. The Myth of the American Dream by D.L. Mayfield
2. Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
3. A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
4. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
5. Unreconciled: From Racial Reconciliation to Racial Justice in Christian Evangelicalism by Andrea Smith
6. Women, Race, and Class by Angela Y. Davis
7. My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
8. Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim
9. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
10. This Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward
11. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
12. We Live for the We by Dani McClain
13. Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
14. Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Rene Eddo-Lodge

How have you been growing in your anti-racism? Have you read any of the antiracist books on my TBR list? Would you recommend them? What books would you add to my list?
Thanks for reading!