I could not have produced this book without the memories of its characters, especially my father, who has an almost perfect memory, and of course Ma, and Sadiqa, Kaila, Yaba, Clarence, and Weckea, another person whose memory is flawless. And so thank you. I could not have produced this book without the tremendous amount of scholarship and reporting on racism and antiracism. And so thank you to all those researchers and theorists and journalists of racism and antiracism.
I could not have produced this book without my health. And so thank you to all the medical providers who armed me during my cancer fight.
A horde of people throughout my life, knowingly and unknowingly, with good intentions and bad intentions, put up mirrors that forced me to self-reflect. I must thank all these people, many of whom are in this book. I want to express my gratitude to all those who assisted me during my journey through academia, from my professors, like Drs. Jackson, Asante, and Mazama, to my colleagues and mentors at colleges and universities where I was employed. I especially want to thank my colleagues at American University for your incredible support. There are too many people to name, but I want to acknowledge Sylvia, Mary, Teresa, Courtney, Fanta, Cheryl, Nancy, Camille, Peter, Christine, Jim, Jeff, Vicky, Eric, Max, Eric, Edwina, Theresa, Rebecca, Lily, Lisa, Kyle, Derrick, Keith, Kristie, Kelly, Rachel, Elizabeth, Alan, Jonathan, Gautham, Dan, and all my other colleagues in the Department of History and the School of International Service. I most especially would like to thank my friends and colleagues at the Antiracist Research and Policy Center, especially Christine, Christopher, Rachel, Amanda, Jordanna, Jessica, Derek, Garrett, Malini, and Kareem.
Thank you to all my friends and relatives, especially my brother, Akil, and my brother-in-law, Macharia. As you know, this book would have been impossible without you and your love. You know who you are. Thank you. Much love and respect.
Finally, I want to thank faith, my daughter, Imani. One day, you will learn how critical you were to the life of this book. And excuse me while I give another shout out to my rock, partner, and best friend, who has given so much to me and meant so much to me and humanity, Sadiqa.
NOTES
My Racist Introduction
“Laziness is a trait in Blacks”: John R. O’Donnell, Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump—His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991). O’Donnell is the former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. In his memoir, he quoted Trump’s criticism of a Black accountant. Here is the full quote. “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day….I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.” Trump at first denied he said this, but later told a Playboy reporter, “The stuff O’Donnell wrote about me is probably true.” See Mark Bowden, “The Art of the Donald: The Trumpster Stages the Comeback of a Lifetime,” Playboy, May 1997.
as mostly criminals and rapists: “ ‘Drug Dealers, Criminals, Rapists’: What Trump Thinks of Mexicans,” BBC, August 31, 2016, available at www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916/drug-dealers-criminals-rapists-what-trump-thinks-of-mexicans.
“a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”: This came from a Trump campaign statement released on December 7, 2015. For the statement in full, see “ ‘Preventing Muslim Immigration’ Statement Disappears from Trump’s Campaign Site,” USA Today, May 8, 2017, available at www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/05/08/preventing-muslim-immigration-statement-disappears-donald-trump-campaign-site/101436780/.
he routinely called his Black critics “stupid”: For a collection of his statements, see “Trump’s Insults Toward Black Reporters, Candidates Echo ‘Historic Playbooks’ Used Against African Americans, Critics Say,” The Washington Post, November 9, 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-insults-toward-black-reporters-candidates-echo-historic-playbooks-used-against-african-americans/2018/11/09/74653438-e440-11e8-b759-3d88a5ce9e19_story.html.
“all have AIDS”: See “Out of Chaos, Trump Reshapes Immigration,” The New York Times, December 24, 2017.
“very fine people”: See “Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: ‘Some Very Fine People on Both Sides,’ ” The Atlantic, August 15, 2017, available at www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/trump-defends-white-nationalist-protesters-some-very-fine-people-on-both-sides/537012/.
“that you have ever interviewed”: See “Trump Says ‘I’m Not a Racist’ and Denies ‘Shithole Countries’ Remark,” The Washington Post, January 14, 2018, available at www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/01/14/trump-says-im-not-a-racist-and-denies-shithole-countries-remark/.
“you’ve ever met”: See “Donald Trump: I’m ‘the Least Racist Person,’ ” CNN, September 15, 2016, available at www.cnn.com/2016/09/15/politics/donald-trump-election-2016-racism/index.html.
“you’ve ever encountered”: See “Donald Trump: ‘I Am the Least Racist Person,’ ” The Washington Post, June 10, 2016, available at www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-i-am-the-least-racist-person/2016/06/10/eac7874c-2f3a-11e6-9de3-6e6e7a14000c_story.html.
Denial is the heartbeat of racism: For more on this idea, see Ibram X. Kendi, “The Heartbeat of Racism Is Denial,” The New York Times, January 13, 2018, available at www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/opinion/sunday/heartbeat-of-racism-denial.html.
“ ‘Racist’ isn’t a descriptive word”: For Richard Spencer’s full quote, see “Who Is Richard Spencer?,” Flathead Beacon, November 26, 2014, available at flatheadbeacon.com/2014/11/26/richard-spencer/.
“Our Constitution is color-blind”: For Justice Harlan’s full dissent, see “Separate but Equal,” in Great Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003), 46–58. For the specific quotes in this book, see 53.
Chapter 1: Definitions
Skinner was growing famous: For explanatory pieces on Skinner’s life and influence and role in Urbana ’70, see “The Unrepeatable Tom Skinner,” Christianity Today, September 12, 1994, available at www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/september12/4ta011.html; and “A Prophet Out of Harlem,” Christianity Today, September 16, 1996, available at www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/september16/6ta036.html.
third and fourth books: Tom Skinner, How Black Is the Gospel? (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970); and Tom Skinner, Words of Revolution: A Call to Involvement in the Real Revolution (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1970).
“The Black Aesthetic”: For the lessons Addison Gayle shared in this course, see his landmark book, The Black Aesthetic (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971).
Larry read: James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (New York: Dial, 1963); Richard Wright, Native Son (New York: Harper, 1940); Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Dutchman and the Slave: Two Plays (New York: William Morrow, 1964); and Sam Greeley, The Spook Who Sat by the Door (New York: Baron, 1969).
Soul Liberation launched into their popular anthem: For a remembrance of this evening with Soul Liberation playing and Tom Skinner preaching that is consistent with my parents’ memories, see Edward Gilbreath, Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 66–69.
When the music ended, it was time: Tom Skinner: For the audio and text of Tom Skinner’s sermon at Urbana ’70 entitled “Racism and World Evangelism,” see urbana.org/message/us-racial-crisis-and-world-evangelism.
saved into Black liberation theology: For a good book on the philosophy of Black theology, see James H. Cone, Risks of Faith: The Emergence of a Black Theology of Liberation,
1968–1998 (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000).
churchless church of the Black Power movement: For a good overview of Black Power, see Peniel E. Joseph, Waiting ’Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America (New York: Henry Holt, 2007).
Black Theology & Black Power: James H. Cone, Black Theology & Black Power (New York: Seabury, 1969).
A Black Theology of Liberation: James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970).
71 percent of White families lived in owner-occupied homes: These figures can be found in Matthew Desmond, “Housing,” Pathways: A Magazine on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy, Special Issue 2017, 16–17, available at inequality.stanford.edu/publications/pathway/state-union-2017. This essay is part of the Stanford Center on Poverty & Inequality’s State of the Union 2017.
“You do not take a person who”: For a full video of President Johnson’s speech at Howard, see “Commencement Speech at Howard University, 6/4/65,” The LBJ Library, available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcfAuodA2x8.
“In order to get beyond racism”: For his full dissent, see Harry Blackmun, Dissenting Opinion, Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 1978, C-SPAN Landmark Cases, available at landmarkcases.c-span.org/Case/27/Regents-Univ-Cal-v-Bakke.
racist idea: See Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (New York: Nation Books, 2016).
“The blacks, whether originally a distinct race”: Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Boston: Lilly and Wait, 1832), 150.
Great Migration: For the best book on the Great Migration, see Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (New York: Vintage Books, 2011).
non-White global south is being victimized: See “Climate Change Will Hit Poor Countries Hardest, Study Shows,” The Guardian, September 27, 2013, available at www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/27/climate-change-poor-countries-ipcc.
higher lead poisoning rates than Flint, Michigan: See “Reuters Finds 3,810 U.S. Areas with Lead Poisoning Double Flint’s,” Reuters, November 14, 2017, available at www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lead-map/reuters-finds-3810-u-s-areas-with-lead-poisoning-double-flints-idUSKBN1DE1H2.
Alzheimer’s, a disease more prevalent among African Americans: For an excellent essay on African Americans and Alzheimer’s, see “African Americans Are More Likely Than Whites to Develop Alzheimer’s. Why?,” The Washington Post Magazine, June 1, 2017, available at www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/why-are-african-americans-so-much-more-likely-than-whites-to-develop-alzheimers/2017/05/31/9bfbcccc-3132-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html.
3.5 additional years over Black lives: For a summary of this data, see “Life Expectancy Improves for Blacks, and the Racial Gap Is Closing, CDC Reports,” The Washington Post, May 2, 2017, available at www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/05/02/cdc-life-expectancy-up-for-blacks-and-the-racial-gap-is-closing/.
Black infants die at twice the rate of White infants: “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis,” The New York Times Magazine, April 11, 2018, available at www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/magazine/black-mothers-babies-death-maternal-mortality.html.
African Americans are 25 percent more likely to die of cancer: For this disparity and other disparities in this paragraph, see “Examples of Cancer Health Disparities,” National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, available at www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/crchd/about-health-disparities/examples.
Breast cancer disproportionately kills: “Breast Cancer Disparities: Black Women More Likely Than White Women to Die from Breast Cancer in the US,” ABC News, October 16, 2018, available at abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/GMA/Wellness/breast-cancer-disparities-black-women-white-women-die/story?id=58494016.
Three million African Americans and four million Latinx secured health insurance: Namrata Uberoi, Kenneth Finegold, and Emily Gee, “Health Insurance Coverage and the Affordable Care Act, 2010–2016,” ASPE Issue Brief, Department of Health & Human Services, March 3, 2016, available at aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/187551/ACA2010-2016.pdf.
28.5 million Americans remained uninsured: “Since Obamacare Became Law, 20 Million More Americans Have Gained Health Insurance,” Fortune, November 15, 2018, available at fortune.com/2018/11/15/obamacare-americans-with-health-insurance-uninsured/.
Racist voting policy has evolved: For three recent studies on voter suppression, see Carol Anderson, One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy (New York: Bloomsbury, 2018); Allan J. Lichtman, The Embattled Vote in America: From the Founding to the Present (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018); and Ari Berman, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015).
“target African Americans with almost surgical precision”: “The ‘Smoking Gun’ Proving North Carolina Republicans Tried to Disenfranchise Black Voters,” The Washington Post, July 29, 2016, available at www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/29/the-smoking-gun-proving-north-carolina-republicans-tried-to-disenfranchise-black-voters/.
Wisconsin’s strict voter-ID law suppressed: “Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016 (Trump Won by 22,748),” The Nation, May 9, 2017, available at www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200000-votes-trump-won-by-23000/.
“We have all been programmed”: Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1984), 115.
Chapter 2: Dueling Consciousness
“We must put drug abuse on the run”: Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on Signing Executive Order 12368, Concerning Federal Drug Abuse Policy Functions,” in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1982 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982), 813.
American prison population to quadruple: See “Study Finds Big Increase in Black Men as Inmates Since 1980,” The New York Times, August 28, 2002, available at www.nytimes.com/2002/08/28/us/study-finds-big-increase-in-black-men-as-inmates-since-1980.html.
more people were incarcerated for drug crimes: Jonathan Rothwell, “Drug Offenders in American Prisons: The Critical Distinction Between Stock and Flow,” Brookings, November 25, 2015, available at www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/11/25/drug-offenders-in-american-prisons-the-critical-distinction-between-stock-and-flow/.
White people are more likely than Black and Latinx people to sell drugs: “Busted: The War on Drugs Remains as Racist as Ever, Statistics Show,” Vice, March 14, 2017, available at news.vice.com/en_ca/article/7xwybd/the-war-on-drugs-remains-as-racist-as-ever-statistics-show.
Nonviolent Black drug offenders remain in prisons: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2003, 112 (Table 7.16) (2003), available at bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cfjs03.pdf.
Black and Latinx people were still grossly overrepresented: “The Gap Between the Number of Blacks and Whites in Prison Is Shrinking,” Pew Research Center, January 12, 2018, available at www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/12/shrinking-gap-between-number-of-blacks-and-whites-in-prison/.
historian Elizabeth Hinton recounts: Elizabeth Hinton, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016).
“the year when this country began a thorough”: Elizabeth Hinton, “Why We Should Reconsider the War on Crime,” Time, March 20, 2015, available at time.com/3746059/war-on-crime-history
/.
Nixon announced his war on drugs in 1971: “President Nixon Declares Drug Abuse ‘Public Enemy Number One,’ ” Richard Nixon Foundation, June 17, 1971, available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8TGLLQlD9M.
“We could arrest their leaders”: Dan Baum, “Legalize It All: How to Win the War on Drugs,” Harper’s, April 2016, available at harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/.
“the hard won gains of the civil rights movement”: James Forman Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2017), 126–27.
“remedy…is not as simple”: Eleanor Holmes Norton, “Restoring the Traditional Black Family,” The New York Times, June 2, 1985.
which were chopping the ladder: See “What Reagan Has Done to America,” Rolling Stone, December 23, 1982, available at www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/what-reagan-has-done-to-america-79233/.
The Reagan Revolution was just that: For a good overview of the racial and economic effects of Reagan’s policies, see Manning Marable, Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction and Beyond in Black America, 1945–2006 (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2007).
“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness”: W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (New York: Penguin Books, 2018), 7.
“relic of barbarism”: and “the low social level of the mass of the race”: Ibid., 43.
“Do Americans ever stop to reflect”: W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Talented Tenth,” in The Negro Problem: A Series of Articles by Representative American Negroes of To-Day (New York: James Pott & Company, 1903). Full text of article available at teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-talented-tenth/.
How to Be an Antiracist Page 26
