This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work

Being nonracist will not change our current situation of racism. It may make you feel like you're a good person. But it, once again, reinforces racism. There is no action in being non-racist. You may be conscious of not saying racist statements and you yourself may feel like you are making a difference by sharing a quote from an African poet on social media. The reality is: inaction will do nothing other than maintain the old normal. Action, being anti-racist, will make change.

Racism is personal prejudice and bias AND the systemic misuse and abuse of power by institutions.

Someone described racism to me as the smog we breathe. It is all around us; racism is everywhere. Our lives are polluted by racism and it harms us all. The more we are aware of this smog of racism, the better equipped we can become to combat this toxic way of being.

Your privilege is something you don't often think about. It's often invisible to you until you take a moment to gain some insight and awareness into your whole self.

Our paths are different because we are not the same. Our paths will meet because we are working for the same thing. It may feel uncomfortable when our different paths connect because our experiences and histories are different. We have different strengths and those will come in handy as we build a strong coalition of solidarity partners...

Folx will be committed to trying to fit you into the box. They will tell you you're too young to make a difference, that you should focus on getting good grades and going to college. They may also tell you to be quiet, that your voice doesn't matter. Please do not listen. Believe in yourself. I believe in you.

Using the term Asian to describe all folx from Asian countries and ancestry does not acknowledge the vast and varied histories, cultures, and experiences of everyone.

We begin to form prejudices when we are two years old.

Seeing how every country has a different way of classifying people shows us that RACE AND ETHNICITY REALLY ARE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS.

THE CONCEPT OF RACE IS NOT ACTUALLY BASED ON SCIENCE, IT IS A CREATION OF SOCIETY.

An ANTI-RACIST person is someone who is opposed to racism. Anti-racism is actively working against racism. It is making a commitment to resisting unjust laws, policies, and racist attitudes. Anti-racism is how we get free from centuries of living in a racialized society that keeps us separate and oppressed.

Racism is a problem, a very serious problem, and it needs to be talked about because it isn’t going away if we do nothing.

You are entering into a consciousness that wakes you up and allows you to see the world in a whole new way.

we are still often caught in the trap of labeling ourselves in ways that center whiteness and those in the dominant culture. I ask you, when possible, please use the names and language that honor you, your family, and your history. Please use the names and language that honor those who are continually silenced and ignored, those who are renamed and have been stripped of their histories. Reclaim the language and names that were stolen and lost over decades.

I do not use the term “minority” to describe Black, Brown, and Indigenous folx because we are the majority in the world. Using the language of racism can minimize our full selves. It can allow us to forget our deepest roots and ancestors; it allows us to create a history that, while in our own voices, has been shaped by the oppressor.

This relationship can be labeled as white saviorism, in which well-intentioned people believe they can save folx who were stripped of their resources rather than giving back the power and giving up their privilege.

When you don’t see Black and Brown folx on TV and in movies, when their stories are not in our history books, you begin to draw your own conclusions about why you regularly see white actors, authors, and models. This becomes your normal and it’s easy to go along with this ordinary way of life.

Unlike race, which specifically looks at your physical features, ethnicity zeroes in on your family’s cultural and ancestral heritage

Privilege is the benefits you receive due to how close you are to the dominant culture.

WE MAKE ASSUMPTIONS BASED ON WHAT WE DO NOT SEE OR KNOW.

When you only read one account of history through a single lens, you do not have the whole truth.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT ALL OF THE PARTS OF A PERSON AND WHERE THEY ARE OPPRESSED, YOU WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW DEEPLY DISCRIMINATION ADVANCES ONWARD.