Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am an early childhood educator and I teach anti-racism courses for parents and teachers. This book is very concerning to me for many reasons: 1. It defines racism solely as interpersonal prejudice based on the skin color and completely ignores systemic racism. This is a mainstream tactic that is used to point fingers at people who make overly racist slurs or extreme groups like the KKK, while ignoring the much larger impact of everyday systems, policies, and practices that were designed to benefit white people over people of color (ie. redlining, drug laws, hiring practices, etc.). See any writing by Robin DiAngelo for more on this. 2. The section called "People Who Help" features a white woman coming to mediate a violent conflict between two groups of people of color from different ethnicities. All of them look like they are deferring to the powerful white woman who is explaining to them in the picture how to solve their problem. It is the classic "White Savior" stereotype. It goes on to say how charity is helpful, but mentions nothing about organizing for social change, again ignoring the role of systems. 3. The section on "Keeping People Safe" features police officers as helpers and suggests that they can arrest and imprison the bad guys. As we know, this myth has lead us the the mass incarceration of Black people. The system of policing is one of the most inherently racist ones there is and to paint police as the primary helpers in working against racism is wrong. 4. There are so many other white cultural myths in this book that I cannot list them all. If you would like better suggestions for children's books that break down systemic racism and interpersonal racism in healthy ways, I recommend children's books like Julius Lester's "Let's Talk About Race" and "Something Happened in Our Town" (multiple authors). In conclusion, when I saw this title, I was hopeful, but after reading it, I am so sad to say that it is the opposite of what we need.