Book Recommendations on Diversity
As a woman, I am keenly aware of discrimination in the workplace and how gender roles in society negatively affect my life. However, despite experiencing horrific moments, my life is still rife with privilege as a white, middle-class woman. Those of us with privilege must constantly do the work of understanding what the world is like for other people with perspectives that differ from our own.
Here are some books I have read that have helped me start to understand the hostile world that other races survive in the US.
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? By Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum – this is an incredibly comprehensive description and response to the current events such as the tragic death of Trayvon Martin. This book breaks down current events, historical events, and systems in the US so that we can understand our racist environment. Her work is extremely well researched with loads of examples, and she tells a story that we cannot ignore. She gives this advice to me “many White people experience themselves as powerless, even in the face of privilege. But the fact is that we all have a sphere of influence, some domain in which we exercise some level of power and control. The task for each of us, White and of color, is to identify what our own sphere of influence is (however large or small) and to consider how it might be used to interrupt the cycle of racism.”
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo – To me, this book offers a guide in all the ways White People are holding back the anti-racist movement and specifically calls out the role of White Women. This book describes several “Karen” situations like white women calling the cops for no reason, crying for no reason, making racial others responsible for all their feels, etc. This is a great book to help you deal with those in your life who do not share your anti-racist journey, and even gives good rebuttals to several arguments used by those trying to avoid accountability for racism or their current role in it. It is easy to ready and not long. Highly recommend!
Race Matters by Cornel West – The back of the book states “As a scholar, theologian, and activist, Cornel West has built a reputation as one of the most eloquent voices in America’s racial debate.” I borrowed this book from someone in 2010, and I didn’t read it until 2022. Sorry old friend! I highly recommend all works by Cornel West, and I supported his run for President in 2024. This book gives a great accounting of how socio-economic events have affected the Black population in the US. I like his brutal honesty as he calls out all people in their involvement and demands that we rise up and answer the call for excellence and leadership.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson – I listened to the audiobook of this, and the author gives a great historical timeline of the many key events that solidified our racial hierarchy in the US. She also brings a very poignant interpretation of the affects of these events on the psyche of different groups of American people. I find when I use audiobooks, I do not retain as much of the information as I wish. Perhaps I will read this one again at a later date.
Other works I have read:
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings
Weighing In: Obesity, Food, Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism by Julie Gothman
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman
Other works on my To Be Read List:
Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel
The Education of a WASP by Lois Stalvey
Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora by Bryant Terry
The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Bozoma Saint John