Do You KNow That YOu Have Black Friends?

When White people are accused of racism (or simple racial ignorance), they tend to default uniformly to the same defense—“I have Black friends!” This faulty attempt at self-exoneration demonstrates active racial ignorance. The continued use of this defense informs us of White comfortability—as Dr. King said, White people “are not putting in a similar effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance” (King, 1967).

 The forthcoming book, DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE BLACK FRIENDS? A RE-EDUCATION ON RACE FOR WHITE AMERICANS BY BLACK AMERICANS, and the accompanying documentary serves as a primer for a needed re-education on race by questioning the viewer’s knowledge concerning racial myths, misnomers, and stereotypes about those racialized as Black, including what it means to be Black.

The forthcoming book is published by SUNY Press, and the documentary film premiered to rave reviews at BLACK—A Celebration of Black Research, February 19, 2025, and was screened at the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) in New Orleans, LA, on March 22, 2025.

SEE THE DOCUMENTARY TRAILER BELOW