This discussion guide has two sets of questions. The first are questions for each chapter for groups who are reading the book together in sections at a time. The second are questions for groups that are discussing the entire book at once.

Chapter Discussion Questions

Chapter One: Where are We?

1. In chapter one, Jen shares early life experiences around race and racism that didn’t start to make sense to her until many years later. What parts of your own early experiences with race and racism (whatever your racial/ethnic identity) formed you in ways that have taken you time to understand?

2. How has the ethos in the U.S. civic climate since 2015 affected your choices around civic engagement since this time?

3. Where are you experiencing despair and where are you experiencing hope in this moment?

Chapter Two: Why Is This So Hard?

1. In chapter two, Jen talks about how racial socialization in white families and communities make moving into action for justice difficult. Whether you identify as white or as a person of color, where did you find these insights helpfully illuminating? Where are there gaps in Jen’s interpretation?

2. How does Layla F. Saad’s notion of “becoming a good ancestor” and Jen’s discussion of white people and people of color having inherited different ancestral legacies, affect how you think about the antiracism?

3. What is an action step you want to move into (if you’re white) or an action in your day-to-day life you wish white people around you (if you’re a person of color) would take?

Chapter Three: Let’s Run Around the Block!

1. In chapter three, Jen compares growing antiracism to needing to build muscle and stamina. Does this metaphor make sense to you? Where does it help? What does it forget?

2. How do you see the relationship between taking concrete actions (behavior) for antiracism and developing deeper understanding of race/racism/antiracism (knowledge)?

3. Why do you think white people get so nervous about interrupting racism? Can you imagine a model for your own life—like the Jen describes in her local SURJ chapter using of people gathering to practice with others?

Chapter Four: The Freedom of a Ruined Party

1. In chapter four, Jen talks a lot about breaking ranks. Can you identify a time—whether around race or some other matter of justice and principal—you found a way to break ranks? What made that possible for you? How did you feel after you did it?

2. What is one thing you need to build in your life (if you’re white) to make it seem more possible to “break ranks” in some way with other white people in some areas of your life where you are aware you need to do?

3. Can a ruined party really bring freedom? What do you think?

Chapter Five: Beyond White Fragility

1. In chapter five, Jen talks about the importance of getting in touch with grief and anger (and about how sometimes fears of “white fragility” gets in the way of this. Have you had experiences of being in touch with grief about the realities and harms of white supremacy?

2. What are some ways we can tell the difference between white fragility (which gets in the way of antiracism) and the emotion-filled work of “tarrying” George Yancey says we need to do?

3. What do you think about the idea that anger can fuel agency and action? What do you want to do with this idea in your own life?

Chapter Six: Finding Our Way Through Paradox

1. In chapter six, Jen talks about how complicated guidelines for “how to be antiracist if you’re white” can be. Do you agree? Where did this claim feel helpful or not-so-helpful?

2. What did you think about the story of the white women at the church who wished Ava DuVernay would have told allies what to do and the multi-racial conversation that unfolded around her?

3. What are some other both/ands or paradoxes in trying to be antiracist you’ve encountered or thought about?

Chapter Seven: Accountability as Belonging

1. In chapter seven, Jen talks about the ways shame hovers in the white experience and easily gets weaponized in antiracist conversations. Where or how did you resonate with this take on shame?

2. How do you think we can metabolize racial shame? What kind of spaces and relationships do we need to create to make that possible?

3. What comes up for you relative to antiracism and racial justice if you imagine “accountability as belonging”?

Chapter Eight: So, What Do We Do With Our Families?

1. In chapter eight, Jen shares personal family experiences as well as her belief that showing up with our “values on our sleeves” is vital for changing white communities. If you’re white or have white people in your family, what has your experience of encountering racism in your family been like? 

2. Does white silence shape your familial relationships (if you’re white)? How do you find yourself responding to this idea of white silence as pervasive in white families (if you’re a person of color)?

3. Where does the work of challenging racism in families or intimate relationships feel most difficult to you? What are some of the practical ways you can imagine white people can build skills and support one other in getting better at speaking up in their families, but staying in it, staying in it, staying in it?

Chapter Nine: Mapping Our Spheres of Influence

1. In chapter nine, Jen shares examples (her own and others’) of successes and failures to have influence for antiracism, as well as an exercise to go through to imagine your own spheres of influence. What is a sphere of influence in your life that you want to build a plan for more antiracist impact? Where do you need to start to build that plan?

2. What do you think about Cooper’s notion of needing to practice Black Lives Matter instead of proclaiming Black Lives Matter? How does that framework shift the way you understand the ways you can take action in your life?

3. How did you find yourself responding to Jen’s story about her experience with her neighbor and her neighborhood’s association?

Chapter Ten: How Do We Change Our (Predominantly White) X?

1. In chapter ten, Jen gives three examples of strategic plans to make change in predominantly white contexts—paying attention to how the experience of people of color in such spaces needs to be centered carefully in such work. Where was this model and these examples illuminating? What still feels hard?

2. Can you identify an example of some kind of project, work or organization you’ve been part of or want to be part of that this model might help you develop a plan?

3. What other ideas for learning and action did this chapter on strategy surface for you?

Book Discussion Questions

1. Jen writes about feelings in a number of different ways in Antiracism as Daily Practice. From the pervasiveness of shame and the risks of weaponizing it, to the need to get in touch with grief and anger. What are some of the ways you found responding to the issue of emotion as you read the book? Where in your own life have feelings been present in ways that have supported or complicated action for antiracism and meaningful interracial relationships (rooted in justice)? What is one take-a-way for you on the role of emotion in action for racial justice as a result of reading this book?

2. Jen writes about white folks lacking “good ancestors” who built the path towards a world where everyone can thrive, as well as how this creates a significant capacity gap between white people and people of color. How did this concept land with you? Do you notice this lack of ancestry in your life (if you’re white)? Do you, indeed, have the kind of ancestry Jen describes here or is your experience different than what she assumes (if you’re a person of color)?

3. We learn more in Antiracism as Daily Practice about using stories to build connection with folks who may not share our beliefs. Jen talks about the importance of curiosity, finding shared values, and staying in it (again and again) as a way to live into the responsibility white folks have for engaging other white folks, for example. What are the limits and possibilities of remaining committed to trying to engage folks who disagree with us? What is a personal experience or stories can you share about your own experience with this when it comes to racial justice?

4. What are some of the feelings reading Antiracism as Daily Practice evoked in you? What feelings did the book help you better understand? How does our relationship with feelings impact our ability to take action, from your perspective?

5. What chapter of Antiracism as Daily Practice or major concept in the book frustrate you the most? Why?

6. What chapter of Antiracism as Daily Practice or major concept in the book excite you the most? Why?

7. What specific actions did reading Antiracism as Daily Practice inspire? How many of these are individual for you? How many need to be pursued in relationships with or joining with others?