Ibram X. Kendi on the Next Steps for an Anti-Racist Society

Ibram X. Kendi shot to global fame with his book How To Be an Antiracist, which reshaped the conversation about racial justice when it was published in 2019, selling over 1 million copies in the US and 100,000 copies in the UK. Now on July 4 he comes to the Intelligence Squared stage for an exclusive event to talk about his new book How To Raise an Antiracist. How do we talk to our children about racism? How do we teach children to be antiracist? How do kids at different ages experience race? How are racist structures impacting children? How can we inspire our children to avoid our mistakes, to be better, to make the world better?

These are the questions Kendi found himself avoiding as he anticipated the birth of his first child. Like most parents or parents-to-be, he felt the reflex to not talk to his child about racism, which he feared would stain her innocence and steal away her joy. But, as Kendi will argue, it is only by teaching our children about the reality of racism and the myth of race from the earliest age that we can actually protect them and preserve their innocence and joy. And he will draw on a century of scientific research and his own compelling personal story to make his case.

Kendi will be joined in conversation by BBC news presenter Razia Iqbal. Is Kendi right that no child is too young to be taught about antiracism? Or, as other African American thinkers have argued, is there a danger in making every child a representative of their race? Join us on July 4 at Conway Hall, hear the conversation and decide for yourself.