Anti-Racism Reading List February 2024

“The elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion across industries and institutions speaks loudly. It looks at every commitment of inclusion and statement of solidarity made by these organizations mere years ago and mocks them. It is a mirror held up to a culture that shows who we truly are, a nation that with its words says “we are ready to put racism behind us” but with its actions shows that its willing to allow it to persist to protect its bottomline and the status quo.”

“Anti-racism is one of the causes that is the most important to me, because it is central to a lot of inequalities we face in the world, like poverty. Poverty is a manmade crisis, mainly affecting Black people in the world. Not only have I been affected by it, but I understand how it affects the many different parts of the world. The economy in South Africa is still divided, and wealth and poverty have opposite faces. The fight against racism is a fight for the betterment of all of humanity, because it determines how we will live amongst each other, and how resources will be shared.”

“The ways this nation despises, dehumanizes, and seeks to destroy Black people and People of Color while enriching itself at their expense are innumerable. The means include but are not limited to the school-to-prison pipeline, redlining, unfair lending practices, and a tiered criminal justice system that issues sentences based on prejudice and privilege.”

“Tackling racism should not be siloed to HR teams and CEOs. It must be broadened to include all areas of an organisation, meaning everyone can be involved. Bond’s anti-racism and decolonising framework is a great resource that explains why a holistic approach to anti-racism is needed, one that includes teams working on advocacy, communication, campaigning, fundraising, governance, programmes, research and more..”

“About 88 percent of visitors to ski areas during the 2019-2020 season were white and 1.8 percent were Black, according to The National Ski Areas Association.”

“Many DEI initiatives are surface-level and don’t address systemic issues. Celebrating cultural heritage months, having safe space conversations, and book clubs are nice, but these activities don’t address systemic problems. A popular DEI initiative that has been the go-to for many organizations, especially following a public faux pas, misstep, or blunder, was the almighty unconscious bias training—but this type of training and other DEI initiatives often fail to address the systemic issues workplaces are plagued by.”

“We’re witnessing a pushback against the strides made in workplace rights, a movement that seeks to roll back the progress of years, if not decades. Yet, in this resistance, we find a renewed call to action – not to be diminished by these setbacks but to rise above them with greater determination.”

“Like Hughes, the protagonists of these movies — the journalist Isabel Wilkerson and the novelist Thelonious Ellison, known as Monk — strive to write as they please. But, by depicting their characters’ struggles, the films offer refreshing commentaries on the social construction of race and its devastating consequences for those at the bottom of the hierarchy.”

“Speaking to The Independent, historian Kayne Kawasaski described the death toll as a “tragedy”.

“Each time another claimant dies without redress, Black Britons feel the ripple effect,” he told The Independent. When Britain needed help, the Windrush generation answered the call. Windrush claimants now need help for the wrongs they’ve experienced to be put right.

“How they’ve been treated by this government is unacceptable.””

“King addressed the white backlash to policies designed to help Black Americans, which is why he commented that some White people misconstrue this as a "demand for privileges," when in reality, Black people are engaged in a "desperate quest for existence." In other words, Black people are not trying to create a society where they are privileged as other groups suffer. Rather, doing something special for Black Americans, such as using affirmative action or DEI programs, attempts to reconcile the racism they experienced, an effort to create a level playing field. King believed that Black Americans needed programs that would mitigate racism.”

“I would be mincing my words if I do not call it what it is: a textbook case of coloniser’s journalism. It is journalism done by practitioners from colonising countries who take pride in their imperial conquests and have an elevated sense of self, every fibre nurtured by centuries of predatory accumulation of wealth, knowledge and privilege. These journalists seem convinced that their countries have fought and defeated particularly immoral and powerful enemies throughout history, stopped evil in its tracks, protected civilisation, saved the day. This is the dominant story of the West and by extension, the story of Western journalism too.”