What Have White People Learned From All Their Black Lives Matter Reading?

What Have White People Learned From All Their Black Lives Matter Reading?

Wednesday May 25 marks two years since the death of George Floyd. The 46-year old African American man was arrested and killed after police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 15 seconds. This came only months after the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

As well as prompting a new wave of Black Lives Matter protests, Floyd’s death reignited conversations about race all around the world. Arguably, the pandemic had a part to play in this, as lockdown forced white people to sit and watch what police brutality can do to Black people in real time. Millions of white people around the world started showing their support by “doing the work”

Part of doing this apparent work has been donating money to Black advocacy organisations and listening to Black people’s experiences, but a major part was white people educating themselves about race through their own reading.
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It’s hard being vulnerable, of course, especially on social media, but have people digested all their anti-racism reading lists or do some consider buying and reading the books job done? Below, we hear from five white people who were willing to share what they’ve read in the past two two years – and how it’s changed the way they see race and racism.

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