How to be an Anti-Racist

How to Be an Antiracist is a 2019 nonfiction book by American author and historian Ibram X. Kendi, which combines social commentary and memoir. It was published under Random House’s One World imprint. The book discusses concepts of racism and Kendi’s proposals for anti-racist individual actions and systemic changes.

Year Banned: 2021

Per Reader’s Digest:These days, Ibram X. Kendi is known as the bestselling author of books like How to be an Antiracist and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, which he co-authored with young adult novelist Jason Reynolds. But when Kendi was growing up in Jamaica, New York, in the ’80s and ’90s, he says, he wasn’t much of a reader. The curriculum at his school focused largely on stories by and about white people, which was alienating to a young Black reader like Kendi. So when he found out that Stamped was one of the most-banned teen books of 2020, he took it personally.

“I know that there are young people right now who have not had the door to reading unlocked,” he told Reader’s Digest in a recent phone call. “That’s why it’s so devastating for me. Because I can imagine those kids today who need the types of books that are being banned.”

Book bans have risen sharply in the past few years. The number of banned books in 2020 was about 700, a figure that more than doubled to 1,500 in 2021, according to the American Library Association. Book banning rarely has to do with literary merit; some of the best books have been banned, including works by authors like Toni Morrison and J.D. Salinger. Books about racism and books by Black authors are prone to challenges and bans, making Kendi’s work especially vulnerable to censorship. LGBTQ+ books, feminist books and books by Latinx authors are also frequent targets.