Anti-Racism Reading List April 2025

“The USA was built on oppression, and despite ongoing inequality, segregation, the wealth gap, and unequal access to resources, those who have been disenfranchised, exploited, and oppressed continue to outshine those who designed the systems. As a result, there are continuous attempts to adjust the playing field with more white-tear safeguards, reinforcing oppression and helping to cope.”

“If you identify as a person of colour, a woman, a disabled person, LGBTQIA+, working class, or otherwise marginalised in society, you’ll know the story well: this work is often borne on your back. Your experience becomes the curriculum. Your body becomes the case study. And your time is expected to stretch beyond what’s reasonable.

If we build economic unsustainability into equity work, we are not disrupting the system. We are upholding it.”

"I want to affirm that all forms of protest matter. Whether you’re marching, organizing, creating, educating, resting, voting, or buying from Black owned business, if you are working toward justice, you are doing sacred work."

“I am a black woman. But the idea that because I belong to that ethnic group it would be acceptable for another black person to refer to me using the N-word – regardless of context – is wrong. I would be offended. That word is derogatory to me, and its history is rooted in oppression and dehumanisation.”

“the NEA rules didn’t exactly feel like the threat they were to so many white-led organizations. The very idea of [47's] anti-D.E.I agenda hits differently for Black arts spaces that inherently serve diverse audiences. Because they don’t need an initiative to promote inclusion in the arts when inclusion is already their entire purpose.”

“The bias has never been more obvious. Disproportionately stopping Latinos just because they “look” like they might be an immigrant speaks for itself. The use of culturally relevant tattoos to target people also has a disastrous history of being used against nonwhite groups, in this case, Latinos, and sweeping whole groups of people up without verifying who is a citizen, who is in the country legally, or if anyone is “illegal” also highlight a Latinophobic bias."

“In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that will make you see historical figures differently. From the fictional biography of the first African man to explore America to a nuanced portrait that asks us to contextualize the life of one of South Africa’s most controversial women, the books on this list will make you think again about the historical figures you thought you knew.”

“The report... raised concerns about the overrepresentation of black people being detained under the act, finding they are 3.5 times more likely to be detained than white people.

The damning report warned that people are becoming more unwell while waiting for help and are stuck in a “damaging cycle” of hospital readmission.”

“white allyship has become a lucrative social currency that does nothing to support personal evolution, solution-driven dialogue or social justice. Instead, it promotes an undue sense of righteousness and indignation like it did with my professor. It gives more power to a post about marginalized people than actually treating us with dignity in real life; it uplifts symbolism over actions.”