How to Be an Antiracist Characters

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the author of How to Be an Antiracist and central character of its numerous memoir sections. He is a renowned historian who studies racist policies, the racist ideas used to… read analysis of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

A participant in the Second Great Migration, Kendi’s mother moved from Georgia to New York in her childhood. Kendi’s mother (like his father) came of age during the Black Power movement but followed… read analysis of Kendi’s Mother

Kendi portrays his father as a wise, supportive parent, who was committed to building a more racially equitable world for his children but nevertheless made some mistakes along the way. He and Kendi’s mother met… read analysis of Kendi’s Father

Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States, whose rhetoric and policies Kendi uses as examples of racism. However, Kendi notes that Trump’s ideas and policies are so overtly racist that many… read analysis of Donald Trump

Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, who served from 1981 to 1989. Kendi argues that Reagan’s administration dramatically redistributed wealth and power towards the people who were already the wealthiest and… read analysis of Ronald Reagan

Du Bois was an influential scholar and activist who was the first Black American to earn a PhD and helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. He remains… read analysis of W. E. B. Du Bois

Smurf is a kid at John Bowne Public High School in Queens who once pulled a gun on Kendi on the school bus and then attacked an Indian kid who unknowingly took his seat. In… read analysis of Smurf

Sadiqa is Kendi’s wife, a nationally renowned emergency physician, medical researcher, and committed antiracist. In Chapter 16, Kendi and Sadiqa discuss and learn to move past the “uplift” ideology, or the idea that… read analysis of Sadiqa