Book In Review
This episode covers the “Biology” chapter of Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist, which Nick opens by reading Kendi’s definition of a biological racist idea: any notion that the races are meaningfully different in their biology and that those differences create a hierarchy of value. Tara frames the chapter as an argument against the old claim that racial groups are biologically distinct or inherently unequal, and points to Kendi’s account of academic testing that ignored the underfunded schools Black students were placed in. Nick reads the chapter’s genome passage, in which the Human Genome Project’s completion showed all humans, regardless of race, are more than 99.9% the same. He also reads Kendi’s warning against “racist categorizing,” tying it to a principle from disability rights: meeting one person with a disability means meeting one person, not a category.
The center of the discussion is Kendi’s passage on pages 61–62 of the paperback, which rejects the “post-racial” position that simply ceasing to name race will end racism. The book argues that without racial categories, racial inequality and the policies that produce it cannot be identified or challenged. Tara extends this to Chief Justice Roberts’ line that the way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race, and she reads the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling as that argument in practice. Nick connects the chapter’s section on “microaggression” (a term coined by psychiatrist Chester Pierce in 1970) to Kendi’s reframing of those acts as abuse. Both hosts then trace a line from Bacon’s Rebellion, Black codes, and Jim Crow to present-day incarceration and immigration enforcement. Nick and Tara agree that the country skipped from Reconstruction straight to reconciliation without finishing the work.
The episode opened outside the book with a segment on Valor Media Network’s drive to assemble at least 1,000 welcome-home care packages for sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, presented by Kristofer Goldsmith, the book club’s founder. That segment set up the episode’s second text, Smedley Butler’s War Is a Racket, and Tara’s retelling of Butler exposing the 1930s Business Plot against FDR. For readers, the chapter’s takeaway as the panel reads it is that biological equality is the anti-racist starting point, but racist policy has to be named and dismantled before race can stop mattering. Nick says next week will cover either “Power,” if it was skipped earlier in the reading, or “Ethnicity.”
Books Mentioned
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi — https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564299/how-to-be-an-antiracist-by-ibram-x-kendi/
War Is a Racket by Smedley Butler (foreword by Kristofer Goldsmith) — https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/839030/war-is-a-racket-by-smedley-butler/
Sources & References
Valor Media Network, USS Abraham Lincoln “Welcome Home” care-package drive — https://valormedianetwork.com
Veterans Fighting Fascism Anti-Fascist Book Club Guidebook (shown on screen via QR code) — https://veteransfightingfascism.org
Actions You Can Take
Check out our new shared community calendar:
Call your public servants on important issues:
Join the efforts to de-flock the States:
Service members can get un-biased information on legal vs illegal orders:
Reach out on Signal: @TheOrdersProject.76
Banner & Backbone Authors’ Notes
Check out the new BroadBanner network and affiliate calendar!
You being here shows that you have already begun the process of unfurling new Banners and forging new Backbones for a more progressive America. Please, take the time to become a paid, or free, subscriber to the Network — supporting us all and ensuring everyone in America can hear these messages.
The America we strive for — it is one where we willingly remember the teachings of our past, humbly learn from our failings, proudly celebrate our successes, and boldly lead the way into a future for all people.
Reach out to the team if you are interested in volunteering time, supporting, and building these community driven platforms:
Submit feedback directly to: info@bannerandbackbone.com
Support and subscribe to Banner & Backbone!
Thank you Noble Blend, NeuroDivergent Hodgepodge, Rose, J’Lynn Davis, Teralex 🌊🌊, and many others for tuning into my live video with Tara Devlin! Join me for my next live video in the app.
