How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Published 2019 · 377 pages · 80,000 words · about 5 hours at an average pace · Memoir & Autobiography, Nonfiction, Politics & Society

How hard is How to Be an Antiracist to read?

How to Be an Antiracist scores 19 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 28 out of 100
Sociological terms. Accessible.
Sentence structure: 25 out of 100
Abstraction: 32 out of 100
Political analysis grounded in personal narrative.
Information density: 42 out of 100
Dense with definitions, analysis, and memoir.
Narrative indirection: 100 out of 100
Direct argument with memoir interludes.
Symbolic density: 12 out of 100
Antiracism as active practice.
Ironic distance: 12 out of 100
Self-critical about his own past racism.
Resolution withholding: 12 out of 100
Antiracism is ongoing, never complete.
Structural complexity: 22 out of 100
Thematic chapters each addressing a dimension of racism.

How How to Be an Antiracist is regarded

How to Be an Antiracist holds a literary regard score of 44 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

About the author

Ibram X. Kendi