Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi Antiracism & Immigration: People First

As a 2020 presidential candidate, Julián Castro proposed radically reforming United States immigration policy by putting people first. Previously he served as President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and spent three terms as mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

In 2018 Castro published his memoir, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream. He now serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for American Progress and is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

Dr. Kendi and Castro sit down to discuss the common ground on which antiracist and pro-immigrant battles must be fought.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE DIALOGUE

• Dr. Kendi and Secretary Julian Castro spoke a lot about the importance of telling the truth about the immigrant story. What stories can you speak to about immigration? Are you or someone you know a first generation, second, third, or even fourth generation immigrant?  
• Dr. Kendi and Secretary Castro discussed how oftentimes our policies get over influenced by this demonization and the otherization of immigrants. Have you or anyone you know ever felt demonized or otherized by a certain community? How did you or someone you know handle that experience?
• Secretary Castro has a very clear message about how immigration can be changed – he proposes “people first immigration.” What do you think about this approach and do you think this mindset is something that all Americans can learn to embrace? 
• Dr. Kendi and Secretary Castro spoke about treating people humanely, no matter where they come from around the world. What approaches or steps have you, or even folks in your community, taken in support in other spaces, in other circles,Anti other than your own?

FURTHER READING + RESOURCES

• Julián Castro’s People First Immigration Plan
• America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee
• How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
• The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America Edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman
• The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness and Hope By Claudia Kolker
• One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965 by Jia Lynn Yang
• Homeland Insecurity Podcast by RAICES

ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT

• The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES)
• No Más Muertes (No More Deaths)
• National Immigration Law Center
• Immigration Advocacy Network
• El Puente de Williamsburg
• Immigrant Solidarity Network
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)