On Saturdays in late ’90s, my father, a taxi driver, would pool his tips for the week and take me, a child too precocious for his own good, to a local bookstore in search of my next read. Together,…

Antiracism workshops and diversity policies have long been the response to racial tensions and incidents in corporations, schools, and nonprofit organizations. There is little evidence, however, that they create employment equity, reduce racial prejudice, or increase cross-cultural sensitivity. Sociologist Sarita Srivastava argues they often create more division and acrimony than progress. "Are You Calling Me a Racist?" reveals why these efforts have failed to effectively challenge racism and offers a new way forward. Drawing from her own experience as an educator and activist, as well as extensive interviews and analyses of contemporary events, Srivastava shows that racial encounters among well-meaning people are ironically hindered by the emotional investment they have in being seen as good people. Diversity workshops devote energy to defending, recuperating, educating, and inwardly reflecting, with limited results, and these exercises often make things worse. These "feel-good politics of race," Srivastava explains, train our focus on the therapeutic and educational, rather than on concrete practices that could move us toward true racial equity. In this type of approach to diversity training, people are more concerned about being called a racist than they are about changing racist behavior. "Are You Calling Me a Racist?" is a much-needed challenge to the status quo of diversity training, and will serve as a valuable resource for anyone dedicated to dismantling racism in their communities, educational institutions, public or private organizations, and social movements

"Advancing inclusion and belonging for people of all races national origins and ethnicities is critical to guaranteeing the safety and security of the American people. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric has put Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) persons families communities and businesses at risk."