In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi uses his life story to chart his own path and the reader’s putative path from racism to antiracism, arguing that antiracism is the only way to combat racism—one cannot simply be neutral, “colorblind,” or not racist. Each chapter focuses on a different element of racism and weaves in stories, chronologically, from Kendi’s childhood to the present.
In the introduction, Kendi explains how, as a young man, he held racist ideas himself, thinking Black people were responsible for a lot of their own problems. He has now come to see that antiracism is the only way to eradicate racism, and counsels the reader to remember that racist and antiracist are not fixed, permanent states, but rather perches which we occupy interchangeably.
In “Definitions,” Kendi tells the story of his parents’ meeting and defines terms such as “racial inequities,” “racist policies,” and “racist ideas.” He provides statistics showing how racist power means that people of color, especially Black people, often face more deleterious conditions in most aspects of life in America.
In “Dueling Consciousness,” Kendi mentions W.E.B. Du Bois the first of many times, explaining the thinker’s “double consciousness” theory from Souls of Black Folks. Du Bois articulated the anguished situation of being Black and American, but sometimes, that turned into advocating that Black people like himself had to liberate other, lesser Black people. Kendi espoused these views as he was growing up and now sees them as wrong.
In “Power,” Kendi explores the creation of racist ideas to support self-interested policy, specifically in relation to the beginnings of the slave trade. Race as a category was invented after policies were put in place, not the other way around. There is no scientific category of Black because race is a construct, but Kendi understands that he and everyone else live out what their assigned race usually manifests.
In “Biology,” Kendi compares the segregationist perspective with the assimilationist perspective. Segregationists believe that Blacks are biologically inferior and should be kept apart from Whites, while assimilationists think that Blacks can meld with White society. There is no biological support for race, with 99.9% of human beings sharing the same genetic material.
In “Ethnicity,” the bases of ethnic racism are explored. The enslavers fostered ideas about which Africans were “better” or stronger or more pliable, and these ideas went out into the world, fostering ethnic tensions. Black immigrants today look down upon African Americans, while African Americans see Black immigrants as race traitors. The reality is that all of these beliefs are fostered and promoted by American White racists.
In “Body,” Kendi refutes claims about the Black body being more violent, more sexual, and more dangerous than the White body. Lack of opportunity for all racial groups means more violence, not Blackness. Neither tough-on-crime policies nor paternalism is helpful—only higher-paying jobs. While there are dangerous individuals, Kendi notes, there is no such thing as a dangerous racial group.
In “Culture,” Kendi looks at how Whites deride Black culture yet steal from it, how Blacks themselves can also attach value to certain aspects of culture and thus marginalize each other, and how antiracism means saying that all cultures are different at the same level.
In “Behavior,” Kendi explains how Black people are supposed to be the best version of themselves all the time and do not get to make mistakes; they are always examples of their race, which is an impossible situation to be in. However, there is no such thing as Black behavior, just like there’s no such thing as White behavior—only individual behavior.
In “Color,” Kendi looks at “colorism,” a term that accounts for the prejudice Light- and Dark-skinned Black people experience. Light-skinned Black people are often considered more attractive and thus have more economic/social/political opportunities, while Dark-skinned Black people are more heavily discriminated against. Light-skinned people worry about being “Black enough” while Dark-skinned people resent their Light-skinned peers.
In “White,” Kendi accounts for how he came to demonize the White race as a young man; now, he knows that that is also racism and does not help Black people. There is a difference between ordinary White people and White racist policymakers that should be accounted for.
In “Black,” Kendi finally starts to overcome some of the racist ideas towards Black people that he’d been holding onto. He shows how some Black people look down upon poorer Blacks who live in inner-city neighborhoods and how this is just as racist as the way Whites look down on all Black people. Furthermore, the assumption that all Black people are weak is a problematic one because it elevates White people to the status of gods and ignores the fact that there are very powerful Black people who can also cause harm to the Black race.
In “Class,” Kendi links class and race to form class racism. In a metaphor of conjoined twins, Kendi shows how capitalism and racism go hand-in-hand and operate to bring down Black people, poor people, and especially Black poor people.
In “Space,” Kendi illuminates how Black spaces are necessary for Black people but how Whites often see them as racist or anti-White. Black spaces are also stigmatized, something Kendi himself was guilty of with his own HBCU and Black businesses.
In “Gender,” Kendi works to understand gender racism and how Black women are doubly affected by their gender and their race. Black feminists sought to stand up for Black women, especially the ones denigrated by their own community. There is no way to be antiracist without being a feminist, and no way to be feminist without being antiracist.
In “Sexuality,” Kendi confronts his internalized homophobia and delineates the harmfulness of queer racism. Antiracists must be allies of transgender people, intersex people, homosexuals, non-binary people, and women.
In “Failure,” Kendi explains why the traditional strategies of moral and educational suasion do not work to end racism. He also looks at how antiracists can also be closeminded and need to be courageous rather than fearless. Those seeking success in ending racism must focus less on the momentary highs of demonstrating and more on actual policy-changing.
In “Success,” Kendi comes to terms with “intuitional racism” and the sense that racism can be overt or covert. He does not believe covert racism is really all that covert, and he claims that saying there is such a thing as covert racism lets racists off the hook. At the end of this chapter, he sums up his journey to antiracism, which is never finished, and sets out the steps he seeks to follow.
In “Survival,” Kendi looks at the experiences of himself, his wife, and his mother with cancer; he starts seeing racism as a disease. It is invasive; it is not essential; it can be cured. It should be treated with antiracism until every cell of it is gone. Kendi feels hope only because it is the only way to persevere: “Once we lose hope, we are guaranteed to lose” (238).
