On Bigotry: Twenty Lessons on How Bigotry Works and What to Do about It

We like to believe that bigotry is a product of ignorance and that if we educate people enough, they will become immune to bigotry. But what if bigotry isn’t a lack of education, but rather a moral code that people live by? What if bigotry is a common code of hate to which no community is immune?

On Bigotry is a field guide for understanding how bigots think and teach others to think, how bigotry disguises itself, how bigotry teaches people to act politically, and, most importantly, what individuals and communities can do about it. This is an essential read for anyone interested in challenging the spread of bigotry in society, regardless of who engages in it and why.

Nicholas Ensley Mitchell is an essayist and assistant professor of curriculum studies, courtesy assistant professor of African and African American Studies, and affiliate of the LGBTQ+ Research and Advocacy Center at the University of Kansas.