Episode description

Ibram X. Kendi is a Professor of history, director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, and a research fellow at Harvard University. He is also the author of several best-selling and highly influential books on race in America.

It seems like everybody has an opinion of Kendi, and when it comes to the online commentariat, those opinions can get pretty hostile.

Even among activists and anti-racists, he seems to spark division, with some grouping Kendi together with other controversial writers like Robin Di Angelo. Kendi is often accused of peddling a pop 'anti-racism' which is at best devoid of substance and at worst toying with totalitalitarianism. With his infamous proposal for a 'Department of Antiracism' that would have power over all aspects of governance, and recent illustrated children's book titled 'Anti-racist Baby', these criticisms are perhaps understandable.

But what about the man himself, who in his lectures and interviews, comes across as something of a calm and reasonable voice amongst the culture war maelstrom?

In this episode, Matt and Chris, until now famed for being not racist (honestly), courageously hurl themselves onto the pyre of American racial politics. Will they reveal their total lack of understanding of critical race theory and are they racist or anti-racist according to Kendi? Listen and find out.

Links

• Short interview with Kendi from 'The One You Feed' Podcast
• Interview of Kendi by Ezra Klein for Vox Conversations
• Kendi's article advocating for an Anti-Racist constitutional amendment
• 'A Response to (Eric Weinstein's) Geometric Unity' Paper