Reading List: Antiracism

Non-Fiction Anti-Hate reading:
• The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
• Breaking Hate by Christian Piccolini
• The Cure for Hate by Tony McAleer
• Letters To My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
• Wounds Into Wisdom by Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD
• Uncomfortable Conversations series by Emmanuel Acho
Non-Fiction about anti-Black racism and hate
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi: Explores what it means to be
antiracist.
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo: Examines the defensiveness of white people
when challenged on racism.
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo: A guide to navigating race in
America.
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson: Explores the hidden
hierarchy shaping America.
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander: Discusses mass incarceration as a
form of social control.
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates: A letter to his son on being Black
in America.
• Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt: Explores the hidden prejudices that shape
behavior.
• Strike the Hammer: The Black Freedom Struggle in Rochester, NY 1940-1970 by
Laura Warren Hill. An examination of our city’s civil rights legacy and the effects
of the 1964 rebellion on our communities today.
Fiction for Teens and Adults
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: A powerful novel about police brutality and
speaking out.
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone: A story of a teenager dealing with racial profiling.

• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely: Examines a violent act
of racism from two perspectives.
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride: Explores community, race,
and secrets in a small town.
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes: A story about the ghost of a Black boy
killed by police.
Middle Grade & Children’s (Anti-Racism & Empathy)
• Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi: A board book for young children.
• New Kid by Jerry Craft: A graphic novel about being the only Black kid in school.
• Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper: A story about navigating racism in
the1930s South.
• I Am Enough by Grace Byers: A book for young children about respecting others.
• The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson: A story about feeling like an outsider
and finding courage.
• Do the Work! An Antiracist Activity Book by W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz
History & Social Justice Focus
• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein: Details how the government segregated
America.
• A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan: The story of the KKK's rise and fall in
the 1920s.
• March (Book One) by John Lewis: A graphic novel memoir of the Civil Rights
Movement.
• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

Non-Fiction about anti-Jewish racism and hate

• Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition by David Nirenberg: Examines how anti-
Jewish concepts have been used to define Western thought and culture.

• A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism--Antiquity to Global Jihad by Robert
Wistrich: A comprehensive history tracing the hatred from ancient times to
modern extremist movements.
• The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to
Modern Anti-Semitism by Joshua Trachtenberg: Classic study on the origins of
medieval stereotypes.
• Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah Lipstadt: “Is today’s antisemitism the
same or different from what we’ve seen before? Is this a problem only on the far
right or is the left to blame as well? And what, if anything, can we do about it?”
• Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel: A contemporary look at how antisemitism is
often excluded from modern anti-racism discourse.
• How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss: A call to action exploring modern
forms of Jew-hatred.
• Contemporary Left Antisemitism by David Hirsh: Analyzes how prejudice
manifests within specific political contexts.
• A Lie and a Libel: The History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Binjamin W.
Segel: Explores the history of the infamous antisemitic forgery.
• Antisemitism in America by Leonard Dinnerstein: A comprehensive history of
anti-Jewish prejudice in the United States.
• And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo
Frank by Steve Oney: A detailed account of a landmark American antisemitic
incident.
• The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and
Princeton by Jerome Karabel: Analyzes anti-Jewish bias in American elite
education.
• Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll (also this video retrospective) “The
Church’s failure to protest the Holocaust — the infamous “silence” of Pius XII — is
only part of the story: the death camps, Carroll shows, are the culmination of a
long, entrenched tradition of anti-Judaism.”
• The War Against the Jews: 1933-1945 by Lucy S. Dawidowicz: A definitive
account of the Nazi efforts to destroy European Jewry.
• Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion by Norman Cohn: Analyzes the conspiracy theories driving
anti-Jewish violence.
• It Could Happen Here by Jonathan Greenblatt: ‘demonstrate[s] how antisemitism,
racism, and other insidious forms of intolerance can destroy a society, taking
root as quiet prejudices but mutating over time into horrific acts of
brutality....[The book] sounds an alarm, warning that this age-old trend is

gathering momentum in the United States—and that violence on an even larger,
more catastrophic scale could be just around the corner.’
Fiction for Teens and Adults about Anti-Jewish Hate
• The Assignment by Liza M. Wiemer (YA Fiction): Two high schoolers fight back
against a dangerous classroom assignment that mirrors Nazi tactics.
• Linked by Gordon Korman (Middle School/YA): When a swastika appears in their
school, two students uncover secrets about their town's past.
• Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar (YA Fiction): A multi-generational story
touching on the history of Sephardic Jews and expulsion.
• The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron (YA Fiction): Based on a true
story of a teenager who hid Jews in her attic.
• They Went Left by Monica Hesse (YA Fiction): A story of survival and searching
for family in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust.
Non-Fiction for Teens and Adults about Anti-Jewish Hate
• Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell
Bartoletti (Nonfiction): Explores how the Nazis targeted and influenced German
children.
• The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson (Memoir): A memoir of a young boy
who survived the Holocaust thanks to Oskar Schindler.

Anti-Asian Hate & Racism
• Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong: Examines the
"purgatorial status" of Asian Americans and the emotional impact of systemic
racism.
• The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee: Documents the history of
anti-Asian immigration laws, racism, and violence.
• The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority by
Ellen D. Wu: Analyzes how the "model minority" myth masks anti-Asian racism.

• Yellow Peril! An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear edited by Dylan Yeats and Lisa Lowe:
Explores the historical roots of the "Yellow Peril" stereotype.
• Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans by Jean Pfaelzer:
Details the violent expulsion of Chinese communities in the 19th century.
• America Is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan: A classic, semi-autobiographical
account of a Filipino migrant's experience with labor and racial violence in the
1930s.
• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: A novel reflecting on the refugee
experience and intersecting issues of race and class.
• No-No Boy by John Okada: Explores the internal and external conflicts of a
Japanese American rejecting loyalty to the U.S. after internment.

Anti-Latinx Hate Non-Fiction & Sociology
• Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism by Laura E. Gómez (2020) –
Examines how the "Latino" identity is a construct that navigates, and is impacted by,
American racism.
• Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America by Maria Hinojosa
(2020) – A personal account of growing up Mexican-American and covering
immigration and hate against Latinos.
• Citizens but Not Americans: Race and Belonging among Latino Millennials by
Nilda Flores Gonzáles (2017) – Explores how Latino young adults experience race
and belonging in the U.S..
• Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice by Ian F. Haney López (2003) – A
historical look at legal and social discrimination against Mexican Americans.
• Shaming into Brown: Somatic Transactions of Race in Latina/o Literature by
Stephanie Fetta (2015) – Examines the bodily and psychological effects of racism on
Latinos.
• White but Not Equal: Mexican Americans, Jury Discrimination, and the Supreme
Court by Ignacio M. García (2018) – Chronicles the legal struggles of Mexican
Americans against systemic discrimination.

• "Silencio": The Hispanic/Latino Reticent Approach to Racism (Law Review
Article) – Discusses the history of discrimination against the Latino community and
the reasons behind the "reticent" approach to reporting it.
Literature & Memoir (Fiction/Autobiographical)
• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez (2017) – A powerful
YA novel addressing mental health, generational conflict, and cultural pressures.
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984) – A classic coming-of-age
story that touches on poverty, identity, and racism.
• Children of the Land: A Memoir by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo (2020) – A deeply
personal, poetic memoir about the emotional toll of being undocumented.
• The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez (2014) – Explores the lives
of Latin American immigrants in the U.S. and the obstacles they face.
• This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz (2012) – Stories that tackle themes of love,
loss, and the immigrant experience.
• Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Contreras (2018) – A novel focusing on the
turmoil in Colombia and the impact on women and families.
Books on Intersectionality & Anti-Racism
• Race or Ethnicity?: On Black and Latino Identity by Jorge J.E. Gracia (2007) –
Explores the complex interplay of race and ethnicity in Latino identity.
• Latinx: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez (1991) – Explores
the immigrant experience, language, and cultural assimilation.
• American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera
(2019) – A collection of narratives about the complexities of living in two cultures.
• Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez (2015) – A YA historical novel about a
Mexican-American teen and a Black teen in a segregated Texas town.

Understanding/Combating Islamophobia
• American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear by Khaled A.
Beydoun: Analyzes the legal and structural roots of anti-Muslim sentiment in the
U.S..

• The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims by
Nathan Lean: Examines the network of individuals and organizations that promote
anti-Muslim ideology.

Understanding Disability Justice and Intersectionality

• Skin, Tooth, and Bone by Sins Invalid, Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-
Samarasinha

• Skin, Tooth, and Bone: The Basis of Movement is Our People (2nd Ed.) by Sins
Invalid: A essential primer outlining the 10 principles of Disability Justice.
• Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by
Alice Wong: A crucial anthology of contemporary disabled perspectives.

• Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha:
Explores care, interdependence, and organizing within disabled queer/trans
communities.
• Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda
Kafai: Examines the art-activism and body-based liberation of Sins Invalid.
• Black Disability Politics by Sami Schalk: Examines the history of Black disabled
activists and their political engagement.
• The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability by Jasbir K. Puar: Analyzes the
geopolitical production of disability.
• All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism edited by Lydia
Brown, et al.: Centers the experience of BIPOC autistic individuals.


Seminal Articles on Racism:

• America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
• Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
• The Intersectionality Wars by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
• Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
• White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
• Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)