Antiracism as Daily Practice

Refuse Shame, Change White Communities, and Help Create a Just World

by Dr. Jennifer Harvey 

“Nurturing and inspiring.”―Kirkus Reviews

“An essential book of practical wisdom…. If you’re white and have been asking, ‘What can I do now?’ this lively and timely book is for you.”―Robert Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy

Antiracism as Daily Practice illustrates the many ways white Americans―those newly waking to the crisis of racism in 2020 and those already aware―can choose behaviors in our everyday lives to grow racial justice. Full of real life stories, this book shows how vital it is for white people to engage in and with our families, through our social networks, in our neighborhoods, and at our jobs to make antiracism a daily living commitment. We have real power in our relationships with other white people―and not enough of us have used it. Dr. Harvey explains why we white people struggle with knowing what to do about racism, and explores the significance of emotions like grief and anger (as well as the harmful role of shame) in really reckoning with the transformation and change needed in our communities to become the partners in justice that Black communities and other communities of color need and deserve. Not only is such transformation vital to the well-being of U.S. democracy. It’s vital to the freedom and wholeness of white people too.

Hardcover | 288 pages | St. Martin’s Press | 2024

Dr. Jennifer Harvey is a writer and educator long engaged in racial justice. Her books include the New York Times bestseller Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America. She has written for the New York Times and CNN, and appeared on NPR’s “All Things Considered” Dr. Harvey served nearly twenty years at Drake University as both professor and Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion. She is now the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.