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peejaybe's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant, this book should be compulsory reading for everyone in the UK.
blueberry31's review against another edition
4.0
I decided to read this book because of current events to further educate myself and understand racism the same way I feel I now understand feminism: it's a journey, you read different perspectives, you learn the facts and history, and ultimately you come out of it being more open minded and able to empathize, you start to see things that you might not have picked up on before (and you can never unsee them...), and you can even start to define where you stand within the movement. That was my intent with reading this book, and I think it completely fulfilled this purpose for me.
This book is a very thorough and well documented piece of work, and I while I appreciate and sympathize with the other's title, I am so glad she decided to (paradoxically) remain a part of the dialogue with white people by publishing this book. I think the title is actually perfect, it says "if you don't actually want to listen, learn and grow - don't bother reading".
I found that there are so many parallels to be drawn with other movements for equality. The history and context, the nature of the movement is of course different - but the strategies used to shut up the oppressed and justify systemic inequalities in favor of the priviledged... are the exact same.
Very good read, I can only recommend this to everyone, especially white people.
This book is a very thorough and well documented piece of work, and I while I appreciate and sympathize with the other's title, I am so glad she decided to (paradoxically) remain a part of the dialogue with white people by publishing this book. I think the title is actually perfect, it says "if you don't actually want to listen, learn and grow - don't bother reading".
I found that there are so many parallels to be drawn with other movements for equality. The history and context, the nature of the movement is of course different - but the strategies used to shut up the oppressed and justify systemic inequalities in favor of the priviledged... are the exact same.
Very good read, I can only recommend this to everyone, especially white people.
woolsson's review against another edition
5.0
This is a rare case where the cover of a book perfectly depicts its contents - Eddo-Lodge is, understandably, exhausted from having to talk about the adversities of race to the people who don't suffer from it - white people.
It is also intriguing as many people are surpised that this is a book about race in the UK and the US. Many British people seem to believe that race isn't that much of an issue here - I should correct myself, many white British people. We must learn that just because we aren't murdering people en mass on the streets like the US, doesn't mean that racism is any less of a systemic issue.
As a white person, I read this book slowly, trying my best to take to heart and learn from the horrors Black people in particular have faced, how my whiteness instanly makes me complicit in white privledge and learning ways that I can improve myself and how to be a better ally. I have learnt a lot from this book and Eddo-Lodge's unaplogetic telling of racism has aided in that. She does not shy away from the truth and while that makes for an uncomfortable read, it is needed and inevitable. Racism is not a comfortable subject.
This book needs to be read by everyone
It is also intriguing as many people are surpised that this is a book about race in the UK and the US. Many British people seem to believe that race isn't that much of an issue here - I should correct myself, many white British people. We must learn that just because we aren't murdering people en mass on the streets like the US, doesn't mean that racism is any less of a systemic issue.
As a white person, I read this book slowly, trying my best to take to heart and learn from the horrors Black people in particular have faced, how my whiteness instanly makes me complicit in white privledge and learning ways that I can improve myself and how to be a better ally. I have learnt a lot from this book and Eddo-Lodge's unaplogetic telling of racism has aided in that. She does not shy away from the truth and while that makes for an uncomfortable read, it is needed and inevitable. Racism is not a comfortable subject.
This book needs to be read by everyone
maxycat's review against another edition
5.0
Eddo-Lodge is smart, funny and eloquent. The book touches on the recent past in Britain and brings up the impacts of racism still resonating. She covers intersectionality with class and feminism and just how the psyche of white people can manifest. A really important book.
mysteriesofmar's review against another edition
not rating non fic, because i don't know how to qualify a "n" star non fic book but anyway
read this. if you're white or a non black poc, read this.
read this. if you're white or a non black poc, read this.
totebagslag's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
jujudepamplemousse's review against another edition
3.0
First, I would like to applaud the author for her commitment. Discussing subjects such as race is a extremely difficult thing to do because you constantely have to walk on eggs in order to convey your idea without shutting people up. To do so, the choice of the words is primordial and for that Mrs. Eddo-Lodge has done an amazing work. Her prose is really good and that most certainly helps convey her points. From the Preface, I was impress by how well she was able to transmit her feeling. Also, she has done quite a good research job in order to give more power to her words.
One point that disappointed me a bit about this book is that it was focusing only on England situation. From my understanding, racism is linked to history. Each country having its own story, racism may not be all the same in my country. Of course there were similarity with the situation in my country. I could completely get on with what she was saying about the fear of the black planet. About people believing that immigrants will steal what they have away. About right parties using peoples fear to justify racism.
However, I also find some differences with her argument. In relation to English history, she talks mostly about people of African and Caribbean heritage. If we would have taken the history of my country, we would have talk more about people of Maghreban community. At some point in the book, she said that ‘racism is a white problem’ and I couldn’t agree with that. Yes racism is a white problem if we take the case of Englands but this isn’t a fact that apply to all cases. For example, my Korean friend told me that racism in Korea is really important and so people from any ‘race’ that isn’t asian are sidelined from society and prejudiced against. By the way I don’t like the usage of race (‘In this book, the phrase ‘people of color’ is used to define anyone of any race that isn’t white’, Preface). There isn’t any race in the human species, all of us are Homo sapiens.
Another point that I regretted about this book, is that it was the point of view of one individual person. I don’t mean that what she says isn’t true, in the particular context of England I agreed with most of the points she made, nevertheless it stayed a one sided argument. I couldn’t agree more on what she was saying about free speech and so there should have been others point of view, opposed sided point of view enhance the discussion.
Regarding this, I was also perplex about the idea of black feminists groups, the ‘space solely for women of color’. Surely this is the perfect place to vent and support each other, however, how can it improved the situation ? Doesn’t it even worsen the situation ? Would it makes sense to exclude men from feminism group if they want to be part of it ?
Finally, toward the end of the book, I found the construction of the arguments less good than in the first part. I found that some arguments missed bibliographic references. For example, in the sentence ‘It was fair to conclude that it was women - almost certainly the majority black, almost certainly mothers - who were being pushed into precarious living situations. Even if that is most certainly the case, I would have taken out the ‘almost certainly the majority black, almost certainly mothers’ because it is not supported by any factual evidences and so for the scientific person that I am, it doesn’t give more impact but just hypothesis. Of course, this are just minor points but the construction of the argumentation is really important when wanting to prove something.
In conclusion, this book is an interesting one to read and gives one view regarding racism. I would still recommend to not only read this book, but to also read other peoples arguments and point of view to form an opinion and think about the best things you can do to prevent racism.
One point that disappointed me a bit about this book is that it was focusing only on England situation. From my understanding, racism is linked to history. Each country having its own story, racism may not be all the same in my country. Of course there were similarity with the situation in my country. I could completely get on with what she was saying about the fear of the black planet. About people believing that immigrants will steal what they have away. About right parties using peoples fear to justify racism.
However, I also find some differences with her argument. In relation to English history, she talks mostly about people of African and Caribbean heritage. If we would have taken the history of my country, we would have talk more about people of Maghreban community. At some point in the book, she said that ‘racism is a white problem’ and I couldn’t agree with that. Yes racism is a white problem if we take the case of Englands but this isn’t a fact that apply to all cases. For example, my Korean friend told me that racism in Korea is really important and so people from any ‘race’ that isn’t asian are sidelined from society and prejudiced against. By the way I don’t like the usage of race (‘In this book, the phrase ‘people of color’ is used to define anyone of any race that isn’t white’, Preface). There isn’t any race in the human species, all of us are Homo sapiens.
Another point that I regretted about this book, is that it was the point of view of one individual person. I don’t mean that what she says isn’t true, in the particular context of England I agreed with most of the points she made, nevertheless it stayed a one sided argument. I couldn’t agree more on what she was saying about free speech and so there should have been others point of view, opposed sided point of view enhance the discussion.
Regarding this, I was also perplex about the idea of black feminists groups, the ‘space solely for women of color’. Surely this is the perfect place to vent and support each other, however, how can it improved the situation ? Doesn’t it even worsen the situation ? Would it makes sense to exclude men from feminism group if they want to be part of it ?
Finally, toward the end of the book, I found the construction of the arguments less good than in the first part. I found that some arguments missed bibliographic references. For example, in the sentence ‘It was fair to conclude that it was women - almost certainly the majority black, almost certainly mothers - who were being pushed into precarious living situations. Even if that is most certainly the case, I would have taken out the ‘almost certainly the majority black, almost certainly mothers’ because it is not supported by any factual evidences and so for the scientific person that I am, it doesn’t give more impact but just hypothesis. Of course, this are just minor points but the construction of the argumentation is really important when wanting to prove something.
In conclusion, this book is an interesting one to read and gives one view regarding racism. I would still recommend to not only read this book, but to also read other peoples arguments and point of view to form an opinion and think about the best things you can do to prevent racism.
rsaun's review against another edition
5.0
Great book and a thorough insight in to the history of POC in the UK (as well as other countries).
It also highlights some on the entrenched systemic racism that countries have within their policies and laws.
I am from a town in the UK called Exeter, during my entire school education, i was never taught anything about the UK's involvement in the slave trade, let alone that Exeter had a slave port.
There is something fundamentally wrong with what history we teach our children in schools, it is very White washed.
For example, how many US children think that 'Columbus discovered America' or 'Cook discovered Australia'. Like these countries didn't exist until White people set foot on it.
I found this book made me feel ashamed of my own ancestry (I am white British/European) and i am still trying to reconcile that now.
It's thought provoking and eye opening.
You feel uncomfortable as you are faced with your own naivety and ignorance, but you will hopefully learn and grow with that.
I highly recommend this book.
It also highlights some on the entrenched systemic racism that countries have within their policies and laws.
I am from a town in the UK called Exeter, during my entire school education, i was never taught anything about the UK's involvement in the slave trade, let alone that Exeter had a slave port.
There is something fundamentally wrong with what history we teach our children in schools, it is very White washed.
For example, how many US children think that 'Columbus discovered America' or 'Cook discovered Australia'. Like these countries didn't exist until White people set foot on it.
I found this book made me feel ashamed of my own ancestry (I am white British/European) and i am still trying to reconcile that now.
It's thought provoking and eye opening.
You feel uncomfortable as you are faced with your own naivety and ignorance, but you will hopefully learn and grow with that.
I highly recommend this book.