Anti-Racist Book Club: How College Students' Views Changed

Recognizing that racism is embedded in our society in both institutional andindividualized ways and noticing an extreme deficiency in anti-racism education, our study aimed to understand the impact of an anti-racist book club on honors students' thoughts, feelings, and commitment to action.Book clubs have a long history of challenging learners to examine power structures and patterns within the status quo (Friere, 1993). With this in mind, our book club sought to push students and faculty to examine racism and power within systems. In our study, 21 honors students read the text, This Book is Anti-Racist (Jewell, 2010). Participants met virtually for one hour each week, for four consecutive weeks, to engage in an interactive book club that focused on topics including identity, privilege, systemic injustice and responding to racism.Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in the form of pre- and post- book club surveys (adapted from Polleck, 2010) to measure change in racist views, knowledge, and practices. Analysis using Grounded Theory (Corbin & Strauss, 1990) allowed several key themes to emerge from the qualitative data, including 1) a deeper understanding of self-identity, 2) higher rates of acceptance, 3) inclusion, and 4) celebration of diversity. Honors students also showed a change in belief of what constitutes racism, moving from defining racism as small-scale and interpersonal prejudiced beliefs or actions to believing racism is a complex combination of personal prejudice and systemic oppression. Overall, after gaining insightful knowledge through the book club, honors students showed an increase in empathy and commitment to take action against racism in everyday life. Through book clubs, students can help reverse the deficiency in anti-racism education by taking initiative and creating a real, lasting impact on peers.