Imagine you’re trying to learn calculus. You’re in a classroom with some students who’ve been doing high-level math for years, and others who’ve only learned basic addition. But no one can leave until everybody learns calculus. Oh, and by the way, the school building is on fire.
This is the picture Jennifer Harvey paints for readers of her bestseller “Raising White Kids” and her new book, “Anti-Racism as Daily Practice: Refuse Shame, Change White Communities, and Help Create a Just World.” Calculus, here, represents discussing racism. The calculus pros stand in for people of color whose families have, by necessity, taught them about racism since preschool. The “basic math” students represent White people who’ve had little practice talking about race.
The analogy — complete with licking flames to reflect urgency — aptly depicts this fraught moment in American society.
“We’re living in really difficult times,” Harvey wrote in the opening of her new book. “Intense white backlash against Black Lives Matter is ongoing. Efforts to ban books, fearmongering against critical race theory and takeovers of school boards by those intent on suppressing accurate teaching of US history have roared through the nation.”
To create a just world, “White folks are going to have to take embodied actions,” Harvey said. “And we are going to make mistakes. Still, we’ve got to build the skills — aka, learn the calculus — so that we can all get out of the burning school.”
Harvey intends her new book to serve as a “container for learning,” insisting that readers keep practicing while providing support and coaching around inevitable slipups. The book’s upskilling message is: “I’m going to walk with you in ways that help you be accountable. And I hope you’ll do the same for me.”