Race in America

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

“From the National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a ‘groundbreaking’ (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society—and in ourselves.”  (This author has also penned How to Be a (Young) Antiracist, How to Raise an Antiracist, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You with Jason Reynolds, and Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You with Jason Reynolds.)

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

“The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.”  (The author has also released Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent: Adapted for Young Adults.) 

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

“One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone—not just for people of color.” 

The Devil You Know by Charles Blow

“From journalist and New York Times bestselling author Charles Blow comes a powerful manifesto and call to action, ‘a must-read in the effort to dismantle deep-seated poisons of systemic racism and white supremacy’ (San Francisco Chronicle).”

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

“A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.” ( The author has also released Just Mercy: Adapted for Young People: A True Story of the Fight for Justice.)

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton 

“A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.” ( The author has also released The Sun Does Shine: An Innocent Man, a Wrongful Conviction, and the Long Path to Justice with Lara Love Hardin &  Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovic.)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum

“The classic, New York Times-bestselling book on the psychology of racism that shows us how to talk about race in America.”

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

“In this beautifully written masterwork, the Pulitzer Prize–winner and bestselling author of Caste chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.”

The Black Agenda edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman

“The Black Agenda mobilizes top Black experts from across the country to share transformative perspectives on how to deploy anti-racist ideas and policies into everything from climate policy to criminal justice to healthcare. This book will challenge what you think is possible by igniting long overdue conversations around how to enact lasting and meaningful change rooted in racial justice.” ―Ibram X. Kendi

The 1619 Project created by Nikole Hannah-Jones

“A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.”

Four Hundred Souls edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

“A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present—edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire.”

Waking Up White by Debby Irving

“For twenty-five years, Debby Irving sensed inexplicable racial tensions in her personal and professional relationships. As a colleague and neighbor, she worried about offending people she dearly wanted to befriend. As an arts administrator, she didn’t understand why her diversity efforts lacked traction. As a teacher, she found her best efforts to reach out to students and families of color left her wondering what she was missing. Then, in 2009, one ‘aha!’ moment launched an adventure of discovery and insight that drastically shifted her worldview and upended her life plan. In Waking Up White, Irving tells her often cringe-worthy story with such openness that readers will turn every page rooting for her-and ultimately for all of us.”

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

“An urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” (This author has also released Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy.)

Shaking the Gates of Hell by John Archibald

On growing up in the American South of the 1960s—an all-American white boy—son of a long line of Methodist preachers, in the midst of the civil rights revolution, and discovering the culpability of silence within the church. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for The Birmingham News.

The Newspaper Boy by Chervis Isom

“The Newspaper Boy is a remarkable collection of memories and personal reflections of the deep emotional conflicts a young newspaper delivery boy, Chervis Isom, encountered while growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, in a time of racial strife and discord in the 1950s and early ’60s.”

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

A book that has “spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander’s unforgettable argument that ‘we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.’ As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is ‘undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.’”

Pushout by Monique Morris

“The ‘powerful’ (Michelle Alexander) exploration of the harsh and harmful experiences confronting Black girls in schools, and how we can instead orient schools toward their flourishing”

Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey

“This New York Times best-selling book is a guide for families, educators, and communities to raise their children to be able and active anti-racist allies.”

Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol

“An impassioned book, laced with anger and indignation, about how our public education system scorns so many of our children.”—The New York Times Book Review

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

“The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.” (This author has also released White Fragility: Why Understanding Racism Can Be So Hard for White People: Adapted for Young Adults.)

South to America by Imani Perry

“An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration.” —Isabel Wilkerson

How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith

“This compelling ‘important and timely’ (Drew Faust, Harvard Magazine) #1 New York Times bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America—and how both history and memory continue to shape our everyday lives.”

We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“In this ‘urgently relevant’ collection featuring the landmark essay ‘The Case for Reparations,’ the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me ‘reflects on race, Barack Obama’s presidency and its jarring aftermath.’”

So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo

“In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life.”

Some of My Best Friends Are Black by Tanner Colby

“Frank, funny, and incisive, Some of My Best Friends Are Black offers a profoundly honest portrait of race in America. In a book that is part reportage, part history, part social commentary, Tanner Colby explores why the civil rights movement ultimately produced such little true integration in schools, neighborhoods, offices, and churches—the very places where social change needed to unfold. Weaving together the personal, intimate stories of everyday people—black and white—Colby reveals the strange, sordid history of what was supposed to be the end of Jim Crow, but turned out to be more of the same with no name. He shows us how far we have come in our journey to leave mistrust and anger behind—and how far all of us have left to go.”

In the Shadows of Statues by Mitch Landrieu

“The New Orleans mayor who removed the Confederate statues confronts the racism that shapes us and argues for white America to reckon with its past. A passionate, personal, urgent book from the man who sparked a national debate.”

UnEqual: A Story of America by Michael Eric Dyson & Marc Favreau 

“Unequal presents a gripping account of the struggles that shaped America and the insidiousness of racism, and demonstrates how inequality persists. As readers meet some of the many African American people who dared to fight for a more equal future, they will also discover a framework for addressing racial injustice in their own lives.”

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
by Layla F. Saad

“This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.” (This author has also penned Me and White Supremacy: Young Readers’ Edition.)

How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide
by Crystal Marie Fleming

“Combining no-holds-barred social critique, humorous personal anecdotes, and analysis of the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on systemic racism, sociologist Crystal M. Fleming provides a fresh, accessible, and irreverent take on everything that’s wrong with our national conversation about race.” (This author has also penned Rise Up: How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy.)