Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

7 reviews

useyourgoodeye's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

This book took me 16 days to read because I had to step away from it a lot to process it fully. Very eye opening and there is a movie out called Origin about the book that I'll be watching soon (Hulu). This is a very difficult and emotional book to get through. It requires you to examine your own life and the lives of others at a level which can make you uncomfortable, sad, and angry. Totally worth it though. It should be used in colleges across the world as required reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

micaelamariem's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

 found this book to be very educational, motivational, and eye-opening. It was interesting, though brutal, to learn the full scale of the history of caste in america and how awful we can be as humans. I think everyone could benefit from reading this. However, though I agree with Wilkerson on everything including the politics of today, I can see how it might polarize people to where they’d miss the point she’s trying to make. I also think the cohesiveness of the narrative could have been better. Still, overall a great read of a dark history and startling present! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

robbiehuman's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Colonisation

Minor: Cancer and Cultural appropriation

arthur_harris's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This book pulls absolutely no punches. It lays out the facts of its subject matter with a kind of frank, unflinching look at the truth that is so constantly softened and blunted in history. Deeply, grimly informative on the true history of the Black experience in the United States. A harsh reality check for those - like me - who grew up with a whitewashed view of American history. While this book is a difficult read in many ways, that is part of what makes it such a necessary one. It forces the reader to examine the deeply ingrained racism baked into the foundation of America, and the subsequent role of the (non-Black) reader in that racist system. An absolutely vital piece of literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

sydapel's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

While I don't know that I completely agree with the fundamental hypothesis of this book (for may reasons, some of which I can articulate and some I can't), Wilkerson's ability to combine storytelling and and commentary on systematic racism in this country is done incredibly well. I do wish more time was spent on detailing the complexities of the Indian caste system, but that's a personal thing I don't think it detracts from the power this book has. (read as Part of SFCM's anti racism book club)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

carmenvillaman's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Cultural appropriation

frenchiesquared's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

So very difficult but necessary for all to read.