Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

31 reviews

eatwritereadrepeat's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

esme_may's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative medium-paced

4.5

Everyone in the UK should read this. It would make a great introduction to reading about race as well, it's petty accessible and the narrative voice is delightfully sarcastic

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

vampirefwoodstock's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

flowingleaves's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

A very interesting part biography, part history book that shines a very important light on many aspects of Britian and its culture and history. The author's experiences were very visceral and you could tell how much they shaped him. The writing was a bit not up to par in some places, but overall it was a very informative and important read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Classism

thesinginglights's review against another edition

medium-paced

5.0

Akala is one of my favourite thinkers. Clear-eyed, well-informed, and just overall interesting. This is a brilliant blend of Akala's life and the socio-political context that informs him: he being a mixed-race man growing up in London, a fact that made his white mother be disowned by her family.

His story informs aspects of race in the UK from history and concurrently with his life, argued with accessible prose, similar to how he speaks in public. That's part of the draw: it's informative without being overwhelming and speaks deeply and broadly on topics. The one thing I would have liked a bit more of is his reflections on his adult life, of his music career and where he is currently. We get glimpses of it (especially for racial profiling) but the bulk of his personal stuff is from his childhood, especially when he was being a "roadman" in his teens.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

britgirlreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, and Classism

lukerik's review against another edition

funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

If Zack de la Rocha were British and wrote a book. 

It’s a hard piece of writing to categorise. Political and personal and polemical. It’s almost like a personal work of sociology, properly referenced and with an interesting bibliography. Akala is obviously a very intelligent man with a finely tuned bullshit detector and a laser-like intellect that he turns on some very confusing issues. Thorough, precise, and sensible arguments and he never takes rhetorical shortcuts even when he’s angry. I didn’t agree with all his conclusions, but if we’re all going to agree we may as well give up and stop thinking now. A very thought-provoking book. I often found it sending my mind off at tangents so that reading it is almost like engaging in a dialogue. Also very funny at times. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism

jjcantread's review against another edition

challenging funny informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

strabbyfieldz's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Akala is a genius, not just for revealing so many striking truths about the dynamics of race and class in society, but weaving it all through a wider exploration of the world, blending his own life experience and auto-biographical writings with wider sociological and political facts. Please read Natives. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Just want to clarify when I say the book includes racial slurs / racism, the book itself is not racist, but the things it includes and discusses bring up racism slurs and talking points in order to refute them. This is not one of those ridiculous 'reverse racism' things where I pretend I'm oppressed as a white person because someone brings up how I benefit from being white - sorry if that was worded poorly.

emcatbee's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, and War