Fighting Racism – Logue Library | Chestnut Hill College

At Chestnut Hill College, we value inclusive community. We strive to live this value by affirming human dignity as an absolute value; celebrating one another’s potential and achievements, both great and small; fostering a friendly and open atmosphere, where all are welcome; exhibiting respect for all members of the global community.

The following resources are by no means definitive, but will hopefully serve as a starting point to enrich your life, expand your mind, increase your empathy, and shape a path to changing the world.

Public Libraries
Make use of your local public library card. It gives you access to tons of online content and ebooks for free. The following is a list of local public libraries to get a card from, if you don’t already have one.

·         POWER Libraries eResources – POWER LIBRARY’s E-Resources include thousands of magazine and journal articles, newspapers, photographs, pictures, charts, maps, and reference materials for people of all ages. As a Pennsylvanian, you enjoy 24/7 access simply by using your local library card or registering for an e-card.

·         Free Library of Philadelphia – Don’t have a Free Library card? Now is a great time to get one! A Free Library card is available at no cost to anyone who lives, works, pays taxes, or goes to school in the City of Philadelphia. In addition, anyone who lives in the state of Pennsylvania can obtain a Free Library card without charge.

·         Delaware County Libraries

·         Bucks County Libraries

·         Montgomery County Libraries

Find your home library and register on their website.

Bias, Prejudice, and Privilege

Habits of Whiteness by Terrance MacMullan “Habits of Whiteness offers a new way to talk about race and racism by focusing on racial habits and how to change them. According to Terrance MacMullan, the concept of racial whiteness has undermined attempts to create a truly democratic society in the United States. By getting to the core of the racism that lives on in unrecognized habits, MacMullan argues clearly and charitably for white folk to recognize the distance between their color-blind ideals and their actual behavior. Revitalizing the work of W. E. B. Du Bois and John Dewey, MacMullan shows how it is possible to reconstruct racial habits and close the gap between people.”

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
“When Layla Saad began an Instagram challenge called #meandwhitesupremacy, she never predicted it would become a cultural movement. She encouraged people to own up and share their racist behaviors, big and small. She was looking for truth, and she got it… Thousands of people participated in the challenge, and over 80,000 people downloaded the supporting work Me and White Supremacy. Updated and expanded from the original edition, Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.”

White Fatigue: Rethinking Resistance for Social Justice by Joseph E. Flynn Jr.
“White fatigue is an idea that helps explain and differentiate this struggle for better understanding among White folks who feel racism is wrong but do not yet have an understanding of how racism functions. White Fatigue: Rethinking Resistance for Social Justice ultimately argues that if we are to advance our national conversation on race, educators must be willing to define reactions to conversations about race with more nuances, lest we alienate potential allies, accomplices, and leaders in the fight against racial injustice.”

Buy on Barnes & Noble

White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
“White Like Me is one-part memoir, one-part polemical essay collection. It is a personal examination of the way in which racial privilege shapes the daily lives of white Americans in every realm: employment, education, housing, criminal justice, and elsewhere. Using stories from his own life, Tim Wise demonstrates the ways in which racism not only burdens people of color, but also benefits, in relative terms, those who are “white like him.” He discusses how racial privilege can harm whites in the long run and make progressive social change less likely. He explores the ways in which whites can challenge their unjust privileges, and explains in clear and convincing language why it is in the best interest of whites themselves to do so.”

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson
“White Fragility explores counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.”

Biased Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
“You don’t have to be racist to be biased. Unconscious bias can be at work without our realizing it, and even when we genuinely wish to treat all people equally, ingrained stereotypes can infect our visual perception, attention, memory, and behavior. This has an impact on education, employment, housing, and criminal justice. In Biased, with a perspective that is at once scientific, investigative, and informed by personal experience, Jennifer Eberhardt offers us insights into the dilemma and a path forward. In Biased, Eberhardt reminds us that racial bias is a human problem–one all people can play a role in solving.”

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
“As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014, and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as ‘black rage,’ historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, ‘white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,’ she writes, ‘everyone had ignored the kindling.’ Since 1865 and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, every time African Americans have made advances towards full participation in our democracy, white reaction has fueled a deliberate and relentless rollback of their gains. Anderson pulls back the veil that has long covered actions made in the name of protecting democracy, fiscal responsibility, or protection against fraud, rendering visible the long lineage of white rage. “