J. Pharoah Doss: Coming full circle with Ibram X Kendi  

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival in 2019 about his book How to Be an Antiracist. During the Q&A, a questioner was unsure how Kendi defined racism and asked him to provide a definition. Kendi defined racism as a collection of racist policies that lead to racist inequity that are substantiated by racist ideas. Kendi clearly established his own definition of racism that coincides with his antiracist philosophy. But critics argued that including the term being defined in the definition, as Kendi did, constitutes circular reasoning. Kendi’s defenders stated that the opponents failed to understand that racism is not about people; it is about power, and Kendi’s term accurately captures that dynamic. The following year, an unarmed black man named George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide rioting. Activists dubbed the civil upheaval America’s “racial reckoning.” Corporations donated millions of dollars to Black Lives Matter and other social justice organizations, while Twitter’s CEO gave $10 million to Ibram X. Kendi’s Center for Antiracist Research. Time Magazine named Kendi to its 2020 Time 100 list, ranking him among the world’s most influential individuals. Kendi said, “I’m focused on using any influence...