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THREAD: In case you are sitting in the back: NOT BEING RACIST DOESN'T MEAN YOU ARE ANTIRACIST. HERE'S A HANDY READING LIST PRESENTED IN SHOUTY ALL CAPS FOR ALL YOU MATURE READERS. #medievaltwitter #shakerace #AcademicChatter #twitterstorians #iloveoldenglish
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2/22 Start with this book by @DrIbram on how to be antiracist. It is a fantastic guide. If you read nothing else, read: 'How to be Anti-Racist': https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564299/how-to-be-an-antiracist-by-ibram-x-kendi/
3/22 Racism and its relationship with capitalism is something we need to think more deeply about. Start here with: Race, Nation, Class by Etienne Balibar and Immanuel Wallerstein
https://www.versobooks.com/books/510-race-nation-class
https://www.versobooks.com/books/510-race-nation-class
4/22 Saying you are colorblind is racist. There are ways to recognize and celebrate difference and acknowledge both privilege and struggles without being racist. Read 'Race Matters' by @CornelWest https://www.amazon.com/Race-Matters-Cornel-West/dp/0679749861
5/22 DON'T BE COLORBLIND!
6/22 You can learn how racism in science, politics and business affects how we see each other in @DorothyERoberts book:
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Invention-Politics-Re-create-Twenty-first/dp/1595588345
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Invention-Politics-Re-create-Twenty-first/dp/1595588345
7/22 Uncomfortable when talking about race as a white person? Read why here: 'Witnessing Whiteness' by @shellytochluk
https://www.charisbooksandmore.com/book/9781607092575
https://www.charisbooksandmore.com/book/9781607092575
8/22 Some of you still like to hear about racism via white people who may be viewed as more level-headed and don't use shouty caps or gifs, so I recommend Robin DiAngelo's 'White Fragility.' https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414
9/22 Think more globally. Here's a book by the incredible scholar @PriyamvadaGopal who discusses how enslaved and colonial subjects of Britain shaped British ideas of freedom. I'm not doing it justice, but it is an excellent read. https://www.versobooks.com/books/2965-insurgent-empire
10/22 More global: "How Europe underdeveloped Africa" (with a foreword by Angela Davis), written by Walter Rodney. @WR_Foundation
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2785-how-europe-underdeveloped-africa
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2785-how-europe-underdeveloped-africa
11/22 Back to Britain and how it created a system (like America) to ensure Black people remained disadvantaged. The Making of the Black Working Class in Britain by Ron Ramdin: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2476-the-making-of-the-black-working-class-in-britain
12/22 Start reading black feminist authors and other women of color if you want to be an antiracist feminists. Coming soon a book on Intersectionality from @sandylocks
Read her articles too. https://www.amazon.com/Intersectionality-Essential-Writings-Kimberl%C3%A9-Crenshaw/dp/1620972700
Read her articles too. https://www.amazon.com/Intersectionality-Essential-Writings-Kimberl%C3%A9-Crenshaw/dp/1620972700
13/22 What does diversity mean? Read about the 'diversity illusion' that usually becomes another racist obstacle. Read my independent scholar hero @SaraNAhmed's "On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life" https://www.dukeupress.edu/on-being-included
14/22
"Diversity"
"Diversity"
15/22 A little older, but still relevant. This book by @MFWallace explores the continued underrepresentation of black voices in institutions including business, politics, academia, etc. https://www.versobooks.com/books/2345-invisibility-blues
16/22 Understanding race and the effects of colonization around the globe is essential to being anti-racist. Read Patrick Wolfe's "Traces of History": https://www.versobooks.com/books/1907-traces-of-history
17/22 Another book on decolonization in terms of understanding Indigenous peoples' long history of resistance read @nick_w_estes "Our History Our Future": https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600136/our-history-is-the-future-by-nick-estes/?fbclid=IwAR3LSz1Nm5LJRX3sC9Wd6BW7wbqFOWhmZB8pFPioJJFqObavbV4JSznIWmc
18/22 Some people use Caribbean immigrants to the US (& Canada) who are successful to suggest wealth gaps between Af-Am people & others is their own fault. Suzanne Model's "West Indian Immigrants: A Black Success Story?" explores why this belief is wrong: https://www.amazon.com/West-Indian-Immigrants-Black-Success/dp/0871546752
19/22 Here's a fab list of anti-racist works to look through and select ones that interest you. They are recommended by @DrIbram https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/books/review/antiracist-reading-list-ibram-x-kendi.html
20/22 Instead of wasting my time on senior academic scholars who want to spend their days writing about how hard they have it, I thought putting together a list of useful resources to make our field, academia and the world better was more worth my time.
21/22 Use this as a starting point, people. Start reading outside of our fields. Keep committing to be antiracist in your work, in what you read, in what you teach and how you act. #commit2change
Feel free to add more good reading to this list and pass it on.
Feel free to add more good reading to this list and pass it on.
22/22 CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE.
