Reading List
This selection of books is ideal for book clubs or individual study.
Click on book covers to purchase. Some links are affiliate links, which means we earn an affiliate commission at zero cost to you.
Books for the Study of the Other Tradition
Understanding Interracial Unity: A Study of U.S. Race Relations
By Richard Thomas (SAGE Series on Race and Ethnic Relations) 1st Edition. Dr. Thomas, Professor Emeritus of history at Michigan State University, put forth the original thesis of “The Other Tradition” in this book published in 1996.
Race Amity: A Primer On America’s Other Tradition
A refreshing and inspirational look at where we have been and how we can achieve our goals of bridging the racial divide in America. A companion to the documentary An American Story: Race Amity and the Other Tradition.
Race Amity and the Other Tradition: Icons and Reflections
This hardcover coffee table book brings to life the stories of people who exemplified a powerful commitment to interracial friendship and partnership.
Featured: Books by Presenters at the 2023 National Race Amity Conference
Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race
By Debby Irving. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, Irving explains why and how she’s changed the way she talks about racism and understands the antiracism movement as a whole.
Speaking of Race
By Celeste Headlee. In this urgently needed guide, the PBS host, award-winning journalist, and author of We Need to Talk teaches us how to have productive conversations about race, offering insights, advice, and support.
Everyday Bias
By Howard J. Ross. Nationally recognized diversity expert Howard Ross explores the biases we each carry within us, helping readers understand how unconscious bias impacts our day-to-day lives and, particularly, our daily work lives.
Teaching Unity: A Guide for Parents and Teachers
by Dr. Randie S. Gottlieb
This easy-to-use curriculum package contains a treasury of fun, hands-on, kid-tested learning activities for ages 8-12. Topics include: One Human Race, Unity in Diversity, Skin Color and Overcoming Prejudice.
Devin Speaks Up
A children’s anti-bullying book about Devin’s bullying experience. As a beautiful brown child, Devin was bullied and experienced pain and sadness. Through speaking up about the bullying, Devin found his ‘Race To Speak Up’ voice.
Other Books by Friends of Race Amity
The authors of these books have served on the NCRA Board of Directors or Advisory Committee, have received the Race Amity Medal of Honor, and/or have been presenters at the National Race Amity Conference.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
By Isabel Wilkerson. The Pulitzer Prize–winning author examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
From Rage To Reason: My Life in Two Americas
By Janet Cohen Langhart. An African-American married to the white former Secretary of Defense reveals how she used her anger from growing up in poverty, segregation, and prejudice to make a positive impact on the world.
African Proverbs for All Ages
By Johnnetta Betsch Cole (Author), Nelda LaTeef (Author, Illustrator). Noted anthropologist and educator Dr. Johnetta Betsch Cole and award-winning illustrator Nelda LaTeef invite children and adults to explore and reflect on complex notions about relationships, identity, society, and the human condition.Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
By Joy a Degruy. Helps to lay the necessary foundation to ensure the well-being and sustained health of future generations and provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of society’s beliefs, feelings, attitudes and behavior concerning race in America.
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
By Heather McGhee. Offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone—not just for people of color.
Race and Reconciliation in America
Edited by William S. Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen. A forum for a long overdue, constructive discussion about the depth of past misdeeds, why the legacies of past oppression persist, and how we can achieve a more fair and just society.
In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History
By Mitch Landrieu. The New Orleans mayor who removed the Confederate statues confronts the racism that shapes us and argues for white America to reckon with its past.