Las Vegas author combating racism with new book, challenging community to make a change

Mary Jane Belleza
·2 min read
2

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Millions of people around the world face racial and ethnic discrimination and while there has been discussion on how to address it, one Las Vegas author is challenging the community to make a change.

Carl Banks Jr. wears many hats — he’s a father, husband, U.S. Navy veteran and author. It’s his life experiences that led him to write several books.

“My latest book is titled Colors: Steps to Eliminate Racism. As a 79-year-old black man, I have experienced racism all my life and I know and believe it’s a tremendous problem in our society,” Banks explained. “The inspiration came from the fact, that I was called the N-word in the military and before the military and looking at our society, I felt I had to do more.”

He made it a goal to speak out about racism and details his work through his writing and podcasts, even highlighting what it felt like to be in an interracial marriage.

“We talked about the effect she had as a Caucasian woman being married to a black man, how she felt when we went around to different places,” Banks said.

His book explores how racism was started throughout U.S. history, how racism is supported through biology and language, and how to end racism.

“They can expect with the first step I ask humans to do is look in the mirror and it’s something we do all day anyway and what I’m asking them to do is describe the colors that they see in their face and once they look in the mirror and see that’s there’s many different variations of their face,” Banks added.

While Banks has received mixed feedback on his book, he said it’s important to be the change for children, so the past doesn’t repeat itself.

“The greatest one is Carl Banks, racism will never end because it is too deeply embedded in humanity,” Banks remarked. “We have to embrace and share within our world, we are all one.”

You can find Bank’s latest book Colors: Steps to Eliminate Racism online.

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