Segregation, Redlining, and Understanding the Systemic Effects of Institutional Racism: My Top Book Picks

Disclaimer: This article focuses on racism against Black Americans. I am a white woman who was raised in a predominantly white suburban community in the 1990s, and it is this community (as well as older white generations) I visualized as my target audience while writing this in an effort to expand awareness and help fill gaps in education.

Like many Americans, everything I learned in school about what it meant to be Black in America boiled down to this: Lincoln freed the slaves, Rosa Parks sat on a bus, and Martin Luther King Jr. had this amazing speech, and now everyone is treated equally no matter their race. For many years, this was the extent of my education. And it was sorely lacking.

In the early 2010s, the media became saturated with stories of police brutality against people of color and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of Trayvon Martin and subsequent acquittal of the officer who killed him. Eyes opened around the country, ushering in an era of “wokeness” and the call for active anti-racism to replace the passive non-racism that white communities have long benefited from while violence and other direct acts of racism have long soared under the radar. In order to be a true ally, it would first and foremost require an abundance of listening and learning–a more comprehensive and contextualized education on our American history from the lived perspective of generations of Black Americans.

This list only includes books I’ve personally read and benefitted from as of this writing, but you can refer to many anti-racist book lists for further reading.

1. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

After the abolishment of slavery, many Black southerners sought safety, freedom, and access to opportunities by fleeing to northern cities–only to face new (and often worse) conditions as communities across the country attempted to block access to them. This book tells the story of the Great Migration primarily through the narratives of three real people from different parts of the south who migrated to areas in the north and west, illuminating their trials–from traveling through “sundown towns” to being refused jobs and shelter–and ultimate triumphs of survival through hardship. This epic and thoroughly researched book shows how migrating Black Americans were forced into separate communities that grew into ghettos, how they were repeatedly taken advantage of by white bosses, landlords, and coworkers, and ultimately how they forged new lives through persistence and the values they carried from home–such as food, family, religion, and hard work.

2. The Black Butterfly by Lawrence T. Brown

So how did cities ensure Black Americans were denied access to white communities and privileges? By using government and institutional power to expressly forbid them. Early housing codes dictated where they could and could not live, and when that became illegal, those in power found sneakier, technically legal ways of pushing them out of white neighborhoods. That’s right: segregated neighborhoods did not happen because “people wanted to live with their own people” (actual overheard quote); they did not choose to live in all-Black neighborhoods, rather they were forced and displaced to certain neighborhoods so that white communities could feel safe and Black communities could be neglected. Everything from housing association agreements to transportation models to business development contracts were–and continue to be–built on this premise. In this book, the author uses the city of Baltimore, Maryland as a prime example to show the causes and effects of these policies over time, and introduces progressive ways to correct the harm that has been done to Black residents and communities.

3. The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs

Critics of this book rightfully point out that it matters who gets to tell the story of one man’s life, and that reading this through the lens of a white, privileged, semi-distant Yale classmate of Robert Peace reeks of exploitation. But with the timely release date of September 2014, after a year of national reckoning against police brutality and one year after the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement, emotions surrounding race relations and violence in Black communities were already running high when this heartbreaking story came out. This is the story of a young man who “beat the odds” against him by receiving a full scholarship to Yale after growing up in a poor, violence-stricken New Jersey community, only to struggle further with his identity and ultimately lose his life to gun violence. Robert Peace’s story exemplifies the complexity of uplifting members of historically underserved communities–how access alone is not enough to rewrite a lifetime of education built on trauma, and how historically white institutions must work to create inclusive, supportive spaces that equitably benefit people of all races and backgrounds.

4. The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias by Dolly Chugh

Racism is so woven into our society that we may not notice the small ways we as individuals let it persist or even perpetuate it. Microaggressions are everywhere, and it can be challenging enough to pause our automatic thought processes much less to speak up when presented with the opportunity–or even to know what to say. This book is a powerful guide to support you in turning your non-racism into anti-racism. You do not have to be marching in the streets in order to be an activist; Dolly Chugh calls on us to use our uniquely individual abilities and privileges, as well as a growth mindset, to fight bias in a way that is authentic, impactful, and acknowledges our limitations. From knowing when to stay silent in order to let others speak, to actively practicing workplace inclusivity, there are many ways “good people” fight bias, and Chugh uses real-life examples to show us how it is not about being perfect but about being humble and never giving up the fight.

Other Recommendations:

• Citizen by Claudia Rankine (poetry)
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (a must-read!)
• A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn