Educating Ourselves about Whiteness and Racism

Resources that have been personally helpful to us library workers in starting to critically examine whiteness and racism and take action as anti-racists

A Note About These Resources

This is a work in progress. The resources on this guide have been helpful to us library workers in starting to understand whiteness, white privilege, and white supremacy. This list is not meant to be comprehensive and almost certainly reflects blind spots, oversights, and resources with some flaws. If you have any questions or suggestions for other resources for this page, please contact us using the form on the left.

Books and eBooks on Whiteness from SMC Library

How Can I Get These Books?

  • For books the SMC Library has as e-books: click on the book cover above and then click "Read this ebook"
  • For books the SMC Library has as print books: Click on the book cover above to view the book's record in the catalog, click Request at the top of the page, and enter your information. When you get an email that the book is ready, come to the Library's Service Desk during open hours to pick it up.
  • If the SMC Library doesn't have the book you want: You can have it sent to you via the SMC Library in 2-3 business days using Interlibrary Loan.
  • Your public library probably has ebooks and audiobooks in addition to print books. Check your local public library's website or ask us if you need help.
  • Buy a print copy from a black-owned bookstore. Marcus Books in Oakland has made online ordering available from bookshop.org. And here are other black-owned bookstores that let you shop online.

Additional eBooks from SMC Library

Go deeper with scholarly books on racism in the U.S., whiteness, white supremacy, and privilege.

Streaming Documentaries (no Netflix subscription needed)

White Like Me film poster
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.