LibGuides: East Libraries: Secondary Library: Anti-Racist

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African-American man was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After his death, protests against police violence toward black people quickly spread across the United States and internationally, raising awareness of racism globally. The resources below attempt to provide reading, listening and viewing that share information about racism in the US and beyond.

Listen

A first person account of the start of the riots in the US but then moves on to discuss why Australians felt that the time was right to join the global protests.

Read

What are some of the issues in the UK which prompted so many to react so strongly to the killing of George Floyd?

Watch

The German experience of racism and why Germans mobilized to protest after the death of George Floyd

Read

At every step of the justice process, police, court and prison systems treat Māori differently to their non-Māori peers. The overall result is that Māori are one of the most incarcerated peoples in the world.

Watch

Social activist-feminist, Ngurang Reena has been fighting against racism and discrimination faced by the minorities in India, mostly towards the people of the North-Eastern region.

Look

Images of protesters around the world

Watch

You Can't Ask That: African Australians answer 'Is racism really that bad?'

Read

A recent report from the National Human Rights Commission suggests that in fact many Koreans are racially abusive to foreigners.

The resources below are predominately about antiracism in the US. No attempt to exclude any form of racism in any country is being made with the existence of this guide.

Read

This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell
Call Number: S\ 305.8 Jewell
Learn about identities, true histories, and anti-racism work in 20 carefully laid out chapters. Written by anti-bias, anti-racist, educator and activist, Tiffany Jewell, and illustrated by French illustrator Aurélia Durand in kaleidoscopic vibrancy.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Call Number: S\ 305.8 Coa
“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" (Goodreads).
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Call Number: SR\ENG Slater
Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes.
Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt
We might think that we treat all people equally, but we don’t. Every day, unconscious biases affect our visual perception, attention, memory and behaviour in ways that are subtle and very difficult to recognise without in-depth scientific studies.
Brit(ish) On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
Brit(ish) is about a search for identity. It is about the everyday racism that plagues British society. It is about our awkward, troubled relationship with our history. It is about why liberal attempts to be ‘colour-blind’ have caused more problems than they have solved. It is about why we continue to avoid talking about race.
Learning from the Germans Confronting Race and the Memory of Evil by Susan Neiman
In clear and gripping prose, she uses this unique perspective to combine philosophical reflection, personal history and conversations with both Americans and Germans who are grappling with the evils of their own national histories.
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped from the Beginning offers compelling new answers to some of the most troubling questions of our time. In forcing us to reconsider our most basic assumptions about racism and also about ourselves, it leads us to a true understanding on which to build a real foundation for change.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
"[Explores] the counterproductive reactions white people have when discussing racism that serve to protect their positions and maintain racial inequality"--OCLC.
White Rage by Carol Anderson
From the Civil War to our combustible present, acclaimed historian Carol Anderson reframes our continuing conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America.

Listen

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt
Every day, unconscious biases affect our visual perception, attention, memory and behaviour in ways that are subtle and very difficult to recognise without in-depth scientific studies.
Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
Afua Hirsch is British. Her parents are British. She was raised, educated and socialised in Britain. Her partner, daughter, sister and the vast majority of her friends are British. So why is her identity and sense of belonging a subject of debate? The reason is simply because of the colour of her skin.
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracism Research and Policy Center, shows that when it comes to racism, neutrality is not an option: until we become part of the solution, we can only be part of the problem.
Just Mercy by Bryan A. Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson recounts many and varied stories of his work as a lawyer in the U.S. criminal justice system on behalf of those in society who have experienced some type of discrimination and/or have been wrongly accused of a crime and who deserve a powerful advocate and due justice under the law.
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Once in a great while a book comes along that radically changes our understanding of a crucial political issue and helps to fuel a social movement. The New Jim Crow is one of the most important books about race in the 21st century.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today's racial landscape--from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement--offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.
Stamped by Dr Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.
Where Do We Go From Here by Dr Martin Luther King
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement, rented a house in Jamaica with no telephone, and labored over his final manuscript.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
It is not enough to simply hold abstract progressive views and condemn the obvious racists on social media - change starts with us all at a practical, granular level, and it is time for all white people to take responsibility for relinquishing their own racial supremacy.
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Exploring everything from eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today.