Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo

29 reviews

catapocalypse's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is a great treatment of the ways white supremacy and patriarchy in America have built a stranglehold over many of our institutions, and the history of some of the most notable and notorious examples over the last couple centuries in particular. It's somewhere between a primer and a deep dive, whereas I felt <i>So You Want to Talk About Race</i> was more of a beginner's primer to the issues it covered. Though that could be since I knew much of the background on the other book's subject, whereas I learned a lot I didn't know with <i>Mediocre</i>.

Oluo touches on things like "Muscular Christianity" and its role in subjugating minority populations as well as creating the sport of American Football. She follows the messy path from the end of slavery to the Great Migration to struggles with integration (in neighborhoods, universities, the workplace, etc.) to the modern bitterness still retained by working class white men. She examines America's complicated relationship with women in the workplace. She even points out that it permeates all areas of society and politics, not just the white South or the GOP.

Ultimately she demonstrates how white male supremacy only survives on the oppression of everyone else, and yet still fails even many white men quite often.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality

Minor: Mass/school shootings

maxgdy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Sexism, Antisemitism, Police brutality, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Xenophobia

rachrreads's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

While I agree with many of the arguments in this book on white male supremacy in America, I found the flow of the book to be hard to follow. This book really just felt like a bunch of essays thrown together with the main points of the argument at the beginning and end.

I learned quite a bit through all these stories/essays though, so that really helped the rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia

evaniem's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

I absolutely loved this book, it was difficult at times because the author does cover some pretty heavy topics, but it was so informative and really shined a light on many ways that racism is ingrained in every aspect of American history, and is continuously upheld today. The author also shares her own personal experiences with racism and xenophobia interspersed within the many facts and historical narratives that she tells throughout the book, keeping the book engaging, and allowing the reader to feel more connected to the topics and issues being discussed. She is an incredible writer and I am so grateful that she has chosen to do the difficult work of educating us on these issues when they are things that she struggles with every day

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Slavery, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide

emfass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Ijeoma Oluo is simply one of the best writers writing today. In both this and So You Want to Talk About Race, she takes very tough and complex issues and makes them accessible. She is thorough and thoughtful and I honestly could have read another 100 pages or more of this book. It was also incredibly impactful to listen to the audiobook and hear Oluo's words in her own voice.

The introduction and conclusion chapters are vibrant and necessary overviews of the violence and harm caused by white male supremacy in the U.S. The chapters in between cover related topics by way of specific stories throughout American history. I deeply appreciated the unpacking of these important moments, and in particular the historic events I've lived through. 

Especially eye-opening to me were:
-the stories of Buffalo Bill and the Bundy brothers (Chapter 1)
-an exploration of Bernie bros (Chapter 2, possibly my favorite section of the book, as it helped put to words so many things I've sensed but didn't know how to say)
-the history of access (or lack thereof) to higher education in the U.S. (Chapter 3)
-the horrific tactics that white people used to try to keep Black people from leaving in the post-Reconstruction South (Chapter 4)
-the "problem" of women in the workforce after World War II (Chapter 5)
-the Squad's political career as women of color in Congress (Chapter 6)
-the racist history of football in the U.S. and the tidal wave of backlash that follows when players (including Colin Kaepernick and Michael Bennett) try to use their voice for change (Chapter 7)

Throughout the book, Oluo also shares many instances of the cruel, unjust, horrifying abuse she has endured as a Black woman writing very visibly about racial, feminist, and social justice issues. She does it not for pity, but I think as firsthand examples of the lengths white men will go to when they feel threatened.

I highly recommend this to everybody.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Genocide

Moderate: Antisemitism, Bullying, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Excrement

sidbookreviews's review against another edition

challenging informative fast-paced

5.0

This is one of the most important books, and one of my most favourite non-fiction books that I have read in quite some time. Mediocre is a sharp, challenging, nuanced, multifaceted, clear and effective book that serves as a history and examination of white male supremacy in America and a scathing look at the systems of power it has created. So much is covered in this book, with historical and present examples of how white male supremacy has affected everything from the economy to the environment to politics and general society. Mediocre is everything I hoped for when reading the title and more. It's no question that Oluo is immensely talented and this book is a truly fantastic piece. Seldom do I adore non-fiction as much as I did this book. I think it's also worth noting that I read this as an audiobook, which I would highly recommend, as it's read by Oluo herself and is a very powerful and passionate reading. Overall, I can't recommend Mediocre enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexism, Xenophobia, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Death

hannahollihan's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Police brutality, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, and Gun violence

shelbo's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book is incredible and everyone should read it. A thoroughly researched history of white male supremacy in the USA, presented in a digestible manner. A lot of the content is understandably dark and upsetting, but Oluo managed to make me laugh through my righteous anger multiple times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Minor: Xenophobia, Suicide, Police brutality, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, and Gun violence

vvoman_of_darkness's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

stephsz's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Police brutality, Sexism, Mass/school shootings, and Xenophobia