A shrewd, incisive, and uncommon work about racism, anti-racism and the dishonesty surrounding it from Kamau Kenyatta
Kamau Kenyatta has spent more than two decades as a professor of African American Studies. For a decade of that experience, he taught racism and sexism classes. He has spoken on these topics in prisons, academic institutions, businesses, and various cultural organizations.
Several years ago, he became annoyed at the rampant ignorance the public has on the subject of racism. It led him to test his students on the topic over the years. The results he stumbled upon stunned and perplexed him because he discovered that 99% of them could not correctly define the term. He began to notice parallels between his students and the public in general. Both, he realized,
were as uninformed.
At the core of the issue is that White people take no responsibility for racism. And Black people generally let them get away with it. White people act like surprised spectators when racism comes up. And Black people think that if we teach them,
some magical light will flicker on in their minds causing them to change. These are fallacies.
The White People Show will ruffle more than a few feathers because it goes against the popular and accepted discussions around racism. This book will challenge and stretch you no matter what you think about racism or anti-racism because it will compel you to rethink what you know about individual racism and systemic racism. It’s about rightly defining the term, how white people became racist, and how black people must approach it for survival. Lastly, it exposes the dishonesty implicit in any discussion about racism.
If you want clarity in understanding racism and don’t know where to look or whom to trust, then The White People Show is for you. You don’t have to be confused about racism again, EVER!
