THE NEW JIM CROW: MASS INCARCERATION IN THE AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS BY MICHELLE ALEXANDER
In 2010, Alexander blew open the conversation on racial prejudice in our prison system. This seminal (yes, it’s so good it deserves that word) work talks about how mass incarceration is the newest way of legalizing racism in a country whose roots are steeped in it.
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINX HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES BY PAUL ORTIZ
Nothing like recentering your notions of history. Ortiz takes the reader from the late 1700s to the present and introduces you to figures like Amy Jacques Garvey, José Martí, as well as more familiar ones such as Denmark Vesey and Frederick Douglass. He looks at the history of the United States as one of working class people versus imperialism. Learn a story different than the one they taught in school.
WHITE FRAGILITY: WHY IT’S SO HARD FOR WHITE PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT RACISM BY ROBIN DIANGELO
If you can’t handle any of your actions being called out as racist, this is the book for you. DiAngelo explains the systemic nature of racism, and how white people are inherently benefiting from it. She stresses the necessity for self-awareness from white people, being open to feedback, and decentering yourself in the conversation.
SEPARATE IS NEVER EQUAL: SYLVIA MENDEZ AND HER FAMILY’S FIGHT FOR DESEGREGATION BY DUNCAN TONATIUH
Perfect if you’re looking for a social justice read for your kid (approximately ages 5–9). Tonatiuh uses beautiful illustrations and text to tell the story of Sylvia Mendez, a 3rd grader who, with her parents, helped end school segregation in California. Winner of the Pura Belpré Award, which honors Latinx writer/illustrators whose work “best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”
EVICTED: POVERTY AND PROFIT IN THE AMERICAN CITY BY MATTHEW DESMOND
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this 2016 social justice read follows eight Milwaukee families and demonstrates how America’s current system benefits the rich while punishing the poor. It’s expensive to be poor, and Desmond’s excellent sociological work is paired with empathy as he moves into the areas he writes about. This was named one of Time’s top 10 nonfiction books of the decade.
WE TOO SING AMERICA: SOUTH ASIAN, ARAB, MUSLIM, AND SIKH IMMIGRANTS SHAPE OUR MULTIRACIAL FUTURE BY DEEPA IYER
Activist Iyer frames this examination of racial tension in America around September 11 and how that day changed South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities across the country. She states that while white America has not fully faced its post-9/11 racial anxiety, there are steps it can take towards healing the broken relationship with those it has ostracized or othered.
THE COLOR OF LAW: A FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF HOW OUR GOVERNMENT SEGREGATED AMERICA BY RICHARD ROTHSTEIN
Do you think all this *gestures around* just naturally happened? Rothstein argues that every level of government, from local to state to federal, has had a hand in purposefully segregating metropolitan areas in America. Racial zoning, public housing, and financial incentives for builders bolstering segregated neighborhoods: all of these were done with intention.
ONE PERSON, NO VOTE: HOW VOTER SUPPRESSION IS DESTROYING OUR DEMOCRACY BY CAROL ANDERSON
This book, which also exists in a YA version, goes from Reconstruction America in 1865 all the way to the present day to lay out a clear picture of how voting rights have been suppressed through poll taxes, photo ID requirements, gerrymandering, and straight-up poll closures. Voter suppression is no accident, and Carol Anderson is here to make that abundantly clear.
UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN
Emmanuel Acho, a former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker, has further ignited his passion to take on racism with the official release of his book: "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man." His YouTube series with the same name has already generated over 65 million views in the past 5 months where he creates a safe space to have conversations about race.
BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, 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?
WHY ARE ALL THE BLACK KIDS SITTING TOGETHER IN THE CAFETERIA?
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.
A KIDS BOOK ABOUT RACISM
Yes, this really is a kids book about racism. Inside, you’ll find a clear description of what racism is, how it makes people feel when they experience it, and how to spot it when it happens.
This is one conversation that’s never too early to start, and this book was written to be an introduction for kids on the topic.
