12 Books About Racism to Read Right Now

Published on the eve of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963, this instant classic gripped the nation, just as the Civil Rights Movement was underway. The book consists of two essays: one, written in the form of a letter to James Baldwin's teenage nephew, about being a black man in America; the other about race and religion. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Margo Jefferson grew up in the upper crust of Chicago's black elite during the 1950s and '60s. Her memoir—which pushes the boundaries of what memoir is, and brilliantly questions the genre within the text itself—recounts her childhood in this rarified environment and explored the concepts of privilege, exceptionalism, respectability, and group versus individual identity.

The debut novel from the late Nobel Prize-winning author follows a young black girl as she struggles with the body she has and finds herself wishing for features—blonde hair, the titular blue eyes—that she thinks will help her fit in. It's a powerful, unsettling story about who we are and who we're told we should be. 

Written as a collaboration between the Muslim minister and black intellectual Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley, this canonical text was published just after Malcolm X's assassination in February 1965. Questions remain about how much Haley contributed to the text, and several missing chapters have been found over the years, but the book remains essential for understanding Malcolm X's extraordinary story and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. 

Zora Neal Hurston's beloved 1937 novel is one of the classics of the Harlem Renaissance. Janie Crawford, an African-American woman in her forties, looks back on her life and her relationships with men, telling a lyrical, stunning story about abuse, love, sex, gender, and liberation.

This collection of speeches and essays from the influential poet and activist Audre Lorde deals with racism, sexism, homophobia, and class struggle, and makes remarkable use of her legendary way with words. 

American University professor Ibram X. Kendi's electrifying book argues that there is no such thing as being simply "not racist." A person can be actively racist or anti-racist—there is not a passive option. Kendi's book tackles the language we use (or don't use) to talk about race, and argues that we must pursue anti-racist actions, not simply anti-racist emotions, to make genuine progress.

Framed as a letter from a father to his adolescent son, this book—lauded by Toni Morrison as "required reading"—delves into the writer's own experience learning about race and power in America, confronts issues of the present moment, and offers thoughts on a way forward in a world that might be better for future generations. 

While the activist and academic might be best known for her first book, 1971's If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance, this collection of essays, speeches, and interviews is a must-read for anyone looking to learn about the history (and current state) of oppression around the world.  

Wes Moore, the entrepreneur, bestselling author, and Robin Hood CEO, writes about growing up in Baltimore just blocks from another young man named Wes Moore. And while one is today a success story, the other is a convicted murderer. This moving, vivid account asks what the true differences between them were, and how the world we live in shaped them both.  

Nelson Mandela's recollections of his incredible life story and hard-won struggle for freedom was published in 1994—the same year he was elected President of South Africa, and just four years after he had been released from prison after 27 years. The book focuses on his early life, education, and imprisonment, and the strength and convictions that Mandela developed. This is essential reading about one of the world's greatest human rights icons.

This book-length poem—which weaves together essays, images, and drawings—was a New York Times Bestseller and National Book Award finalist. Rankine documents racial aggressions in modern life, whether personal or political, private or public. By showing how racism effectively makes some citizens invisible and powerless, she also posits that "citizen" is not just a legal category, and being a true citizen encompasses a broader sense of responsibility to others.