On Race

The current presidential administration is afraid of people who are different. You can see it in their policies discriminating against trans people and in their dismantling of DEI. Pretending that race doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter is naive and hurtful. Failing to acknowledge racism and its role in our culture harms some of the most vulnerable of our citizens. Immersing oneself in literature written by BIPOC creators is one way to value the members of our culture often discriminated against. This post includes books for adults that investigate race from many different angles, all written by people of color.

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead (1999)

There are two kinds of elevator repair people: the Empiricists, who use tools and instruments to fix the machines, and the Intuitionists, who can feel what is wrong with an elevator and how to repair it. Lila Mae Watson, an Intuitionist, is the first female Black inspector in the city. When an elevator that she had inspected fails, she — and the Intuitionists and Black inspectors — are called into question.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)

Ifemelu and Obinze were high school sweethearts in Nigeria. Their paths diverge when Ifemelu goes to the U.S. to study and Obinze, his visa denied, moves to the U.K. as an undocumented immigrant. Ifemelu’s observations about being Black in America are sharp and insightful — she starts a blog that gets a lot of attention. Obinze returns to Nigeria and becomes a successful, if not entirely above board, businessman. When Ifemelu finally returns to Nigeria years later, their paths intertwine again.

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (2020)

I’ll admit that I watched the TV version first, but I really enjoyed both versions. Yu’s book looks at Hollywood and race through the eyes of Willis, a waiter in a restaurant in Chinatown. Written like a screenplay, this work picks apart the limited roles that Asians are allowed to inhabit in American culture.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (2022)

Bird, who is 12, lives in a dystopian world controlled by the PACT Act, a racist policy said to preserve American culture. Bird’s mother, who is Asian, has disappeared years before. When he gets a message he believes to be from her, he sets off to find his mother and learn her secrets.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (2023)

This novel is narrated by June, a white struggling author. She is friends with Athena, the beautiful, poised, Asian American successful writer whom June can’t help but envy. When Athena dies in an accident while June is in her apartment, she takes the writer’s notes on a future novel. She finds herself drawn in to the novel and finishes it. When she decides to publish it under her own name, she starts down a path that leads June into more deception and manipulation. The book is a biting satire of the publishing industry and how it treats white writers and writers of color.