Ibram X. Kendi: ‘Whiteness Prevents White People from Connecting to Humanity’
Race activist and professor Ibram X. Kendi has made headlines once again for his comments at a screening of his Netflix documentary, Stamped from the Beginning. There, Kendi claimed that white people have not “reckoned with how much their own personal identity is shaped by constructions of whiteness” and that “whiteness prevents white people from connecting with humanity.”
“When you’re not able to see yourself in other human beings, that creates all sorts of problems. But not just societal problems, but personal problems, that I think hopefully this film and this work will liberate those folks from. It’s liberating all the way around. I think it will liberate all of us because we’ve all been told a lie about ourselves and other people.”
Ibram X. Kendi at the screening of his latest Netflix documentary
Kendi’s documentary is adapted from his 2016 book of the same name that explores the global history of anti-black racism. The documentary opens with Kendi asking the question “What is wrong with Black people?” It ultimately ends with Kendi answering the question by saying, “The only thing wrong with black people is that we think something is wrong with Black people.” However, Kendi’s teachings go well beyond this simple point of anti-black racism that was prevalent throughout world history. Kendi attempts to persuade people that systemic racism is still rampant in American society today and that all white people are inherently racist.
Kendi, whose real name is Ibram Henry Rogers, gained prominence for his 2019 book, How to be an Antiracist, where he consistently contends that all white people are inherently racist. According to Kendi, if any institution produces racial inequality, it is inherently racist. His proposed solution to combatting what he terms “systemic racism” involves endorsing discriminatory practices.
He stated, “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
In addition to his academic works, Kendi authored a children’s book titled, Antiracist Baby, aiming to instill his extremist beliefs in young children.
An obvious critique of Kendi’s works is that if the races were reversed in his rhetoric, replacing “white” with “black,” it would be universally denounced as racist. But for people like Kendi, these words of racism are justifying because they are aimed at white people.
