The issue of differential outcomes between racial groups can be picked apart from a variety of viewpoints -conservatives tend to see differences as a result of personal and cultural differences, progressives tend to see differences as originating from factors external to the individual or group. There are also those rare individuals, interested primarily in truth, who can weave together a nuanced view by looking comprehensively at an issue. Unfortunately Kendi is not one of those rare individuals - he stands exclusively in the progressive camp, and comes to some pretty absurd conclusions.
On culture Kendi writes "To be antiracist is to see all cultures in all their differences as on the same level, as equals." Really? Does Kendi actually believe an openly racist antebellum southern culture is on par with a modern culture that abhors racism? Is a culture that practices female genital mutilation on par with a culture that sees this practice as barbaric? He doesn't, of course, but he fails to see the inconsistency in his own reasoning.
Trapped in an exclusively postmodern worldview, Kendi repeatedly attributes all differences between racial groups as a result of racist policies. Strangely he never points out what any of these policies are, only that they must be resisted in the name of antiracism. Disparate outcomes are never seen as the result of complex factors both internal and external to any particular group.
This book isn't entirely terrible, Kendi does bring up some biases that exist in the culture at large which are worth exploring. He is also a half decent writer. Hopefully he will spend some time out of the postmodern echo chamber that is presently engulfing academia, and develop an understanding of himself and of racial issues that can actually bring positive change to the culture at large.
How to Be an Antiracist
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