As a white woman I have been trying to educate myself about the inherent racism that is a part of our culture and society. As a third culture person (someone who grew up overseas and was immersed in a different culture for their formative years) it has been difficult for me to claim the racism of a culture I do not yet, even now, fully claim as my own, but from which I have benefited from immensely. Since I grew up overseas I am also aware that racism is not just a problem here in the US but it is a human problem, with racism appearing in many different forms throughout the world.

Racism, as we have seen in the past 11 days since the senseless and brutal murder of George Floyd and before that the deaths of many other black people at the hands of police or vigilantes is a systemic horror that must be exposed and excised from our society. Many of us who are white have had our head in the sand for far too long and in order to move forward we must own up to the benefits and the privilege that flows from this racism while opening our hearts and our minds to the harm, trauma and oppression of racism and the way it distorts and makes a mockery of our claimed values of equality and justice for all.

The following books are some that I have found helpful on my journey to understanding more fully how racism has played such a huge role in our society and the consequences of its unfettered and systemic toxicity on our black and brown sisters and brothers.

It is important to start at the beginning and hear the story of one of the last slaves who came to the US. Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.” by Zora Neale Hurston is a chilling account, in his own words, of one of the last slaves brought into the United States. Eventually freed after the Civil War his life was forever changed by his experience. It will also forever change the way you think and feel about slavery and its dehumanizing effects.

Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad is a novel that follows one woman as she tries to escape the south and to find freedom. Her harrowing escape and Whitehead’s use of a real underground railroad as a metaphor for the escape routes slaves had to use to find freedom is memorable and thought provoking.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty is a complicated and cynical. In a town where the “haves” and “have nots” are clearly delineated by the color of their skin, our narrator decides to make changes by using unique and controversial tactics like re instituting slavery and segregation to bring about change for his black community. Winner of the Man Booker Prize this was a challenging and thought proviking book!

Greg Iles’ Natchez Burning, The Bone Tree and Mississippi Blood (The Natchez Burning Trilogy) is one of the most disturbing portrayals of systemic racism I have read. A mysterious series of crimes, corruption and murder consume the city of Natchez while its prosecutor tries to bring those who are instigating this criminal activity to justice.

These are just some of the books that have been a part of my own education. The NY Times just published An Antiracist Reading List which has more great books that I will be putting on my reading list!  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/books/review/antiracist-reading-list-ibram-x-kendi.html

If you haven’t yet begun your own antiracist education, I hope you will join me!

If you have already begun I hope you will share with us the books that have been most meaningful to you!