DAY 4: Whiteness and Anti-Blackness

Professor john a. powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, has said, “When you think about racism, in the Americas and Europe … it is really largely organized around anti-Blackness.” In other words, anti-Black racism is the epitome of othering. Anti-Blackness describes how racism specifically targets Black people, placing them at the bottom of an invented racial hierarchy. While racism can affect people of color from all backgrounds, it has a particular impact on Black people. It’s important to understand the role white supremacy places in the lives of both people of color and white people, and to recognize these differences so that we don’t perpetuate or do further harm in our efforts to build solidarity among different people and to combat racism. We invite you to read (or reread) this reflection on anti-Black racism (approx. 7 min reading time)

• What comes up for you as you read the article, and consider the history and continued reality of anti-Blackness?

• Look at this framework that points out overt and covert aspects of white supremacy. How do you see some of the covert forms of white supremacy showing up in your work, studies, and volunteerism in the book industry? How does anti-Blackness show up?

• Take the How Privileged Are You Quiz (5-10 minutes for quiz) to experience a version of the “Privilege Walk exercise” and see how you rank compared to other quiz takers. If inclined, invite others to do the same and to discuss with them.

• Initiate conversations with others in your community, including your bookselling community. What do others see in terms of white supremacist/dominant culture and elements of anti-Blackness? How might you start practicing alternatives? Initiate staff conversation and education around representation in inventory and displays, staff picks (online and in-store).

More Resources

• Paying Attention to White Culture and Privilege: A Missing Link to Advancing Racial Equity
• Short article: Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person
• Longer video: Birth of a White Nation
• Podcast episodes: “Seeing White” Series on Scene On Radio (episodes 31-45)
• Brief article: About Whiteness and about privilege

Yesterday: Racial Socialization
Tomorrow: Interpersonal Racism

Author Photo Credit: Maile Wilson | Quote from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

SIBA thanks its generous sponsors, who have made the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge possible:

Many of the quotes used in the Challenge are excerpted from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

Although SIBA has modified when appropriate for a bookseller audience, the majority of prompts and resources come directly from the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge created by Food Solutions New England (FSNE). We are so grateful for their extraordinary work creating this program and making it available to other organizations.