Helping People Leaders Deliver High Impact Inclusion Work | Host of world's longest running inclusion podcast "Element of Inclusion"
This book positions Antiracism as being binary. And this creates a compelling conclusion: You are either anti racist or you are not.? Not everyone agrees. The author challenges a lot of commonly held views about this topic. This is why I don’t think this is the first book on racism you should read. The book: How to be an AntiRacist by Professor Ibram X. Kendi PS. I always use our signature approach to books. I developed it during my PhD. It helps to get value from books.? I ask the same 5 questions: 1. ??Why is the book important? 2. ??Who is this book for? 3. ??What are the key messages of the book? 4. ??What are some key takeaways of the book? 5. ??And other considerations… This “60 Second Book Review” is a short version of what I think As always I want you to make your own mind up What do you think??
Amri B. Johnson
3 个月
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Jennifer Toettcher
3 个月
I’m OK with it being binary. It is like you are anti-Hitler or you are not. Everyone gets to chose who to be in every system on Earth. If they haven’t decided who to be, time to chose.
André D.
3 个月
This book wasn't the first in my inclusion journey. Like you, I seek answers. To be absolute that someone says that one way or another does not allow for nuances and differing opinions. After reading The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounk (and Amri can attest to this), you realize that this plays right into the polarization and blame game that exists today. I would never suggest people to read Kendi's if they are searching for answers. You need differering and challenging perspectives to round out your thinking otherwise why do this work?
Hemant Rangan
3 个月
Once you are anti anything then you are binary. Being binary logic predominant is the root of all conflict. Let deeds show, not talk. This world is all about talk. That is the problem. Taking a stand. Talking out. None of these matter simply because of an evangelistic attitude, one displays negativity in the form of self righteousness and domination of others which are rejected by innate human nature. Keep on creating all the binary words u like, it has and will only make things worse. Deeds and humility are what are infectious and compelling. Empty vessels make more noise.
Niru Subramanian
3 个月
Agree that this certainly isn't a starting point on understanding race and racism. I didn't find it a particularly easy read. Agree 100% that antiracism requires action and is a verb. Certainly not enough to just say you are.
Penny Rabiger
3 个月
I agree. Before rushing to “be”, people need to understand the basics about what race is and what it does, what racism is for, how it is structurally baked into every aspect of human society. Anything else leads to attempts at being “not” racist which at most can be expressions of compliance rather than engaging in commitment to disruption to the status quo as a lifelong struggle.
This book and its series (because I think the fact it came in multiple formats did really speak to accessibility) is something that makes it a really helpful start for people who are pretty new to thinking about this. I really like “antiracism is a verb”; I felt I got a lot of quicker ways to explain something that I had difficulty putting more succinctly. I feel in practice, it’s not something I would want anyone to read and rest on their laurels about, but I think we can say that for most books paring down complex concepts for a wide audience? “You read one person’s perspective, now go live it” sort of thing.
Co-Founder @ FairJob UK | Start-up Leadership, Human Resources (HR)
3 个月interestingly, I am currently writing an article looking at the tension between some of the applications of CRT in employers that we are seeing in the UK and the Equality Act 2010. Having studied several of the recent high profile Employment Tribunal losses by UK employers, at the heart appears to be a situation where being 'anti' has crossed the line into discriminating through over correction. Our position, in practical application, is that employers should base their policies on the law as it is written but MOST importantly, get in a specialist to train those policies so everyone is clear. In the most recent example, Thames Valley Police, the Police had excellent policies around EDI and as you would expect they were linked to the Equality Act 2010 and very specific. The problem is that they hadn't trained them effectively especially into senior management. The training they had contradicted the policies themselves and lacked focus on de risking the employer. Effective DEI training must reflect the policy and the policy must be lawful. This chain breaks down usually between what is being trained and what is policy - which is WHY you need someone like Jonathan (or me!) in to check you are compliant! ??