5 Books About Race on College Campuses Every Student Should Read

Updated on June 19, 2020 at 10:20 AM

Joining the fight against racial injustice starts with listening to Black voices, sharing resources, and fully educating yourself on the systemic issues that affect Black people. Racism on college campuses affects everyone, and it's important for all students to acknowledge that non-Black students benefit from a system that has discriminated against Black students. From specific events like the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door at the University of Alabama in 1963 to broader topics like the history of African American Greek life, we need to acknowledge and understand the discriminatory history of higher education. And while that discrimination sadly continues to this day, educating yourself is the first step in taking action for change.

This list of books from Black writers covers hard-hitting research on systemic injustice against nonwhite college students, including deeply moving memoirs on what it's like to be a Black person on campus. No matter if you haven't started college yet or have been an alum for years, add these to your reading list.

They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up

Eternity Martis, a Black Toronto-based journalist and senior editor at Xtra, delves into her personal experiences as a nonwhite person studying at her alma mater, Western University, a predominantly white university located in London, Ontario. During much of her undergraduate years, Martis was subjected to overt forms of racism such as blackface at dorm parties and hearing racial slurs thrown around in public and in academic settings. They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up is a heartfelt and realistic memoir about navigating predominantly white spaces as a person of color and challenging systemic issues within the college experience.

Race and the University: A Memoir

George Henderson, the third African American professor at the University of Oklahoma, describes his early experience teaching in the late 1960s and early 1970s and overcoming obstacles like campus-wide bigotry and a clear racial divide. Race and the University: A Memoir delves deep into these hardships, recounting the journey to improve race relations within the university.

Black Power on Campus: The University of Illinois, 1965-75

Joy Ann Williamson's Black Power on Campus: The University of Illinois, 1965-75 explores Black social activism on college campuses during the period. The book includes interviews with key individuals involved in the Black student movement at the University of Illinois, like student activists and university officials, on the growing Black power ideology and the significance of grassroots movements.

Being Black, Being Male on Campus: Understanding and Confronting Black Male Collegiate Experiences

Being Black, Being Male on Campus: Understanding and Confronting Black Male Collegiate Experiences brings to light a narrative that's often overlooked when discussing issues of race on college campuses. Derrick R. Brooms, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati, investigates the personal experiences faced by Black men at predominantly white colleges and the systemic barriers they face in academia.

Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America's Campuses

Lawrence Ross's Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America's Campuses delves into racism on American college campuses, criticizing the actions of historically white fraternities and sororities, racist college campus traditions, and anti-affirmative-action policies that segregate predominantly white colleges. The controversial book explores real-life scandals and occurrences within American campuses that provoke readers to ask, "How far have higher education systems come to overcome racism?"