9 of the Top 10 New York Times nonfiction bestsellers are currently about racism in America

Ibram X. Kendi — (Image credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

The four top-selling nonfiction books in the U.S. right now are about how Americans — specifically white Americans — can better learn what it means to be black in America, according to The New York Times bestseller list. Out of the Top 10 books, only Glennon Doyle's Untamed isn't primarily about racism in the U.S. — though she does dedicate a large chapter to the topic, too.

The police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and resultant protests around the country have unearthed a significant shift in the percentage of Americans who see systemic racism as a real and enduring problem. Now many of those people, it appears, would like some more information about racism and their part in the system.

The No. 1 nonfiction bestseller right now is White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, an analysis of why white people get counterproductively defensive about race, followed by So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi — whose book Stamped, with Jason Reynolds, is also No. 2 on the young adult hardcover list — Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Doyle's Untamed, Stamped From The Beginning by Kendi, and at No. 10, Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson's exploration of criminal and racial justice.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

If people actually read their newly purchased books, that's probably even better.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.