Book Club Discussion Questions for How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Democrats, Race and the 1994 Federal Crime Bill and our BookBrowse Review of How to Be an Antiracist.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Even for a scholar of antiracism like Ibram X. Kendi, the idea of talking to children about racism can be uncomfortable. How does Kendi come to the realization that discussing racism could actually help preserve his daughter's innocence and joy? When and why did you decide to start your own antiracist parenting or caregiving journey?
2. Kendi says, "Raising our children to be antiracist is like dressing their minds in armor before we send them out into the world." Discuss two of these "pieces" of armor: There's nothing right about me because of the color of my skin; and There's nothing wrong with me because of the color of my skin. Why are these important lessons to impart?
3. Why is colorblind caretaking so dangerous, even though it may seem well-meaning? How would you differentiate antiracist caretaking from color blind caretaking in a conversation with another caregiver? How will you discuss the contradiction between race not existing biologically, but existing societally, with children?
4. Why is it crucial to consider intersectionality? How will you explain this concept for the young minds you're teaching?
5. What fact or insight surprised you most while reading the book? What fact are you most eager to share with others?
6. Discuss the ways that heterogeneous schools make children—all children—smarter and more successful. How can you find more heterogeneous spaces for children? How will you work to help your child build an interracial friend group? Within those friend groups, how will you encourage your child to learn to be a leader and a follower?
7. How can you nurture the empathy children begin to develop at 3 years and 9 months? How can you encourage antiracist empathy, which, Kendi writes, "is exuding concern, taking the perspectives, or feeling personally distressed for the groups at the lower end of racial disparity and injustice"? Knowing that your actions serve as a model for the child's actions, how can you ensure that your own empathy is absolute, not conditional?
8. When your child starts waking up to racism, how can you break the cycle of" putting children back to sleep"? How can you teach school-age children about the racial inequities they are already starting to notice—or that are already affecting their lives? What age-appropriate aspects of structural racism can you illuminate for them? How will you explain those aspects of structural racism?
9. Kendi writes, "The most dangerous racist idea is the idea of a dangerous Black person"—noting that racism in America causes Americans, including and especially teachers and police, to view Black juveniles as "more similar to adults." How can you work to combat this racist idea, in yourself and the children you look after? What are some of the ways Kendi suggests to convey antiracist messages about kids of color?
10. How can you facilitate open, antiracist discussions with your teenager to protect them from racist and white supremacist messaging they can encounter online—and in real life?
11. Explain what Kendi means when he says, "To be racist is to be conceited and insecure."
12. The conversation starts here. The future starts here. What's one way you will further your child's antiracist education in the next week? The next month? The next year?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of One World. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.