Anti-Racism Reading List July 2024

10+ thought-provoking articles to further your anti-racism learning and action

Hello friends,

It’s that time again, and I’ve curated a wide-ranging reading list covering racism in the workplace, anti-Blackness, slurs, DEI and climate justice, among other topics. Ready to dive in?

I’ve said many times that I’ve stopped watching videos of Black people and Global Majority people being brutalised. It’s traumatic - and the trauma endures. This author makes the case for workplaces recognising and caring for racial trauma. I think it has merit, don’t you?

“Companies should consider giving Black and brown people time off to cope with racial trauma after something like witnessing George Floyd’s death on social media. I believe racial trauma should be taken as seriously as a traumatic incident that someone would normally get time off for. Offering time off for racial trauma could be a part of DEI efforts, especially after seeing or experiencing an instance of police brutality firsthand or repeatedly. DEI isn’t just about conferences and conversations, it’s also about being inclusive in your policies.”

I’ve lived in France myself, and have experienced racism there, so I was interested to read this writer’s take on the history and the present, and what needs to happen next:

“France's colonial history, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean, has significantly shaped its racial dynamics. The colonization of African and Caribbean nations led to a pervasive sense of racial superiority among the French, a sentiment that has been perpetuated through generations. This colonial mentality manifests in various ways, from the exoticization and objectification of Black bodies to systemic discrimination in employment, housing, and law enforcement.”

This article provides more than 10 powerful examples of how Black people move through the world differently, of the things we need to think about when we visit certain spaces.

“This country was founded on the enslaved labor of my ancestors, brutal violence against those who shared my features, and racist systems that continue to impact my daily life.

That’s what I see when I look at your precious stars and stripes.

What did you say, it’s just displaying pride in the country?

Pride about what? Quickly..”

4. Can slur words ever be reclaimed? by The Language Matters Memo

I contributed to this article by Sadia Siddiqui. In it, three of us looked at the potential reclamation of some of the most hateful words used against our communities. Here’s Sadia’s take on whether other communities can use the P-word (and as you’ll see, I feel similarly about the N-word):

“This is a big fat no. Context is everything. When someone uses the word 'P*ki,' they aren't being nice and commenting on how friendly we are like the 'Aussies’ or ‘Kiwis'; it's simply not used in that way. Perhaps we can revisit this question in time, but it’s none of your business right now. Move on..”

This is an issue I’ve been educating myself about, as what seems to be an eco-friendly option comes at a high cost. I hope it’s useful for you, too.

“Bakari Height, the transit equity organizer at the Labor Network for Sustainability, says the global harm caused by the energy transition and the inability of Black Americans to participate in it at home are for a simple reason.

“We’re always on the menu, but we’re never at the table,” he said. “The space of transportation planning and climate change is mostly white people, or people of color that aren’t Black, so these discussions about exploitation aren’t happening in those spaces — it is almost like a second form of colonialism.””

In case there were any doubt, Clay Rivers provides some education on terror and violence of the Jim Crow era:

“Apparently, there are a few people on television touting various inaccuracies about “advantages” Black families held during the Jim Crow era. As a descendant of people who were once enslaved, let me be clear on this point: the period of Jim Crow was never nor can it ever be viewed as a period of benefit for Black families.”

Reparations in corporate? Yes, please! The author makes a strong case for why business firms should acknowledge how they have benefited from and perpetuated anti-Blackness and why they should set out to repair the harm done:

“The purpose of this article is to argue that business firms have a moral responsibility to offer reparations to Black people in the United States for racial injustice. In an era when the public and shareholders increasingly demand greater accountability from business firms, it is important to recognize the longstanding role business institutions have played in perpetuating the cultural dehumanization of Blackness.”

I always appreciate Khafre Jay’s straight-talking approach, and this article is no exception, highlighting the gulf between DEI promises and performance in the tech industry:

“This hypocrisy reveals an industry more interested in maintaining appearances than making fundamental, systemic changes to combat white supremacy and foster an inclusive environment for Black workers. Not to mention the fact that, according to a report from Zippia, 76.1% of chief diversity officer roles are held by white employees, while Black employees hold 3.8%. They sure like to keep it in the family, don't they?”

I was in a conversation about enduring myths about “race” when it occurred to me to check out where South Africa is now as a contemporary case study. Much as has happened in many post-colonial settings, those who enjoyed privilege continue to do so, and the pace of change has been and can be glacial:

“whites continue to be disproportionately advantaged in terms of income, wealth, housing, and opportunity relative to other South Africans. Yet, there is an unwillingness among white people to recognise that to be white in South Africa continues to be a primary marker of socio-economic advantage.”

I included this book review here because it explodes one of the myths about who benefited from enslavement. It will be added to my growing to-be-read pile, but in the meantime, this article gives a good overview:

“Montero contends in the book that the primary beneficiaries of the slave economy were not Southern plantation owners — most of whom, he writes, were in debt. Rather, the profits accrued mainly to Northern banks and insurance firms which lent money to those plantation owners, and then invested that money in other industries in the rapidly growing nation, from coal fields to railroads. Many of the loans used the bodies of enslaved people as collateral.”

Of Note - Things Worth Highlighting

I hope you enjoyed this month’s compilation. Which article stood out to you most? What action will you take as a result of what you’ve read here today?

Thanks for reading,

Sharon

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Enjoyed this month’s reading list? Feel free to share to help others discover it. Thank you!

*Note: all articles linked here were free to read when I put together this edition. However, some may be paywalled by the time it is published, because capitalism. There’s not much I can do about that, but I hope the included quotes give you a flavour of the content.

© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Cover photo courtesy of Canva.

I am an anti-racism educator and activist, the author of “I’m Tired of Racism”, and co-host of The Introvert Sisters podcast. This newsletter is published on beehiiv (affiliate link).

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