From WNYC Studios, it's Brian Lair, a daily politics podcast. It's Monday, June 20th.

Back with us now, Ibrahim X. Kendi, professor in the humanities and the founding director of the Boston University

Center for Anti-Racist Research. He's maybe best known for his book, How to Be an Anti-Racist,

and he's the author of a new book now called How to Raise an Anti-Racist. Professor Kendi,

it's always great to have you on. Welcome back to WNYC. Oh, thank you for having me on.

And we've had you on the show a few times before to speak about other books. It's probably

worth asking you, though, to remind us what you mean when you say anti-racist. For some reason,

that's become a hot-button term in politics with some people, you know,

shooting arrows at it. Is it different from simply being non-racist?

Well, to be anti-racist is to recognize the racial groups as equals, despite differences in colors and cultures.

And then to be anti-racist, since you recognize the racial groups as equals,

it's to recognize that the source of racial disparities in our society is not what's superior

or inferior about a particular racial group. It's the result of

racist policies. And then to be anti-racist is to figure out a way in your own life to challenge

those policies, to challenge even the ideas that suggest the cause of these disparities

in our society, the result of bad people,

as opposed to bad policy. And unfortunately, the reason why this has become a hot button

sort of topic, particularly within sort of far right circles, is because for really a decade,

one of the primary white supremacist talking points has been this idea that anti-racist is code for anti-white. And I'm quoting a

white supremacist by the name of Bob Whitaker. And that idea has basically gone mainstream.

So to be anti-racist, it almost sounds like, is to be politically active to change policy,

not just to treat people equally as individuals?

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