Building Towards Understanding the Issue of Race in America

As I write this, I have no doubt your timelines and socials are full of images and memes of the incredible displays of protest which have resulted from the death of George Floyd. It can be overwhelming to try and process the extraordinary band of emotions and reactions that these displays capture (and generate!) and without the context of history, a common question lingers long after the images of the protests fade: why?

It becomes natural to want to understand more, to dig a little deeper and see the bigger picture of why the death of one person might spark off a movement of protests across every state of the nation. To help, I have put together a list of books that can help to provide some of that information. Note that this list is not meant to be complete, but you will find every book worth reading. This week, the works are all nonfiction, and I have arranged them, based on my own experience, on their level of difficulty, both in reading and in the knowledge they require to be fully understood.

First up, John Lewis' March series, a three-book graphic novel which beautifully captures the spirit of the Montgomery Siti-ns of the late 1950s, the middling steps of the growing civil rights movement. As an introduction to understanding the ways in which the issue of race has developed in this country, March is an excellent starting point, in that it begins with ground that is likely familiar (the civil rights movement) and shows in painful detail the organized resistance to what appears to us as common sense - allowing black Americans to eat at the same places as their white equals. The first book, especially, shows the level of resilience and patience needed by a group of students to establish even the smallest foothold for racial equivalence. By focusing on a smaller piece of a larger puzzle, we better understand how incredibly entrenched and established the ideas of white supremacy were. In turn, this understanding builds upon common historical information, connecting these lunch sitins with Dr. King, while clearly being written from the current moment of history.

Additionally, I selected this particular novel because of its demonstration of an aspect that is essential to understanding some of the complexity of this issue: time. I believe that to understand the question of 'why?' one must grapple with the variable of time and understand that this is no short-lived issue.

With this historical framing in mind, I suggest strongly Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix. Organized as a historical sourcebook, Stamped examines in totality the history of how the relationship between the races developed to where they are today, beginning in the 1400s. As it travels the shameful timeline of slavery and the structural, sometimes subtle, prejudices woven into the very foundation of the country, it discusses ideas for dismantling or disarming some of these hard-coded inequities. As the timeline of our history evolves through the course of the book, it also discusses with candor how lawmakers have continued to make things worse, especially for poor black communities, even into the 2000s. Trust me, this is far more interesting than your Social Studies book! Its commentary is astute, connected, and very earnest. As a stepping stone into a broader understanding, tackling the history of black America is essential.

But, beyond that, I selected this book because the tone, aside from existing to inform and correct commonly held misconceptions about the history of race, glimmers faintly with hope. It sometimes can be in short supply when one looks deeply at the difficult things in the world, and having an excellent resource that also, somehow, remains at least a little hopeful, is a rare thing indeed.

Thirdly, Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between The World and Me. Okay, so this book is cheating a little, as it is not technically a YA book, but Coates' work is all but required reading if one wishes to understand the 'why?' Besides, the book is framed as a letter from the author to his own teenage son, so it's basically YA, right? This book seeks to present as accurate of a view as possible of the experience of black America. In some places, it becomes difficult to read for its sheer bleakness, but like the videos of the protests, if one seeks to understand, one must not look away. This book is powerful, and full of contemplation and history. Its formatting makes it approachable to read, and its description of the Dream - the quiet suburban life that just might be synonymous with the American Dream, makes it a very good place to fully submerge oneself in the quest for knowledge. Removing the veil of anonymity and looking at a particular anecdote is essential to empathy, and seeing through the lens of a black father the lessons a black teenager needs to know to survive and thrive in the white world is empowering.

Finally, for a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which the American justice system disenfranchises black Americans, read The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. Building on the history examined in the previous suggestions, The New Jim Crow targets specifically the prejudiced ways in which justice is routinely denied to black Americans, and the long-lasting political, social, and economic consequences of an America which more frequently and more heavily criminalizes its minority populations. The book is complex and at times uncomfortable to read, but it is directly connected to the spark which set these protests aflame - the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, who should be the first line of a fair and equal justice system.

That's all for this week's list. Even though the NFPL is closed for renovations, these books can be checked out electronically through Libby and enjoyed on any e-reader or phone. I hope to see you again next week!