How to Be an Antiracist opens with a discussion of common misperceptions of racism. Many consider racism to be an explicit and often violent form of animosity; however, its myriad forms are less recognized by most people. For Kendi, it is important that readers understand racism exists in multiple forms and none of these ought to be minimized. While “racial microaggressions” has emerged as a term to describe daily encounters with subtle, often implicit forms of racism, Kendi posits, “[w]hat other people call racial microaggressions I call racist abuse” (47). He insists on qualifying racial microaggressions as racist abuse to draw attention to the way racism can be overlooked or even go unseen.

Kendi advocates for this deepened understanding of racism so the reader can comprehend its dire consequences. In the concluding chapters of the book, he describes his personal experience with cancer—which occurred during his research into the history of racism—to provide a tangible analogy. To address racism as a form of alarm, he describes racism as a “metastatic cancer,” a form of cancer that spreads from one region of the body to another and is considered deadly. He is aware that this comparison between racism and cancer may be unseemly to some, and says, “Forgive me.