Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Women, Race, & Class

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis

30 reviews

basicbookstagrammer's review

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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brnineworms's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

Women, Race & Class features frank discussion of, as the title suggests, sexism, racism, and classism. It can get pretty brutal at times, focusing for the most part on the conditions of slavery (particularly for enslaved women) and on the fight(s) for equality immediately after the abolition of slavery in the United States.

Davis examines the unique oppression experienced by Black women on account of both their gender and their race, and the ensuing need for intersectional politics. She highlights the solidarity between abolitionists and early feminists, but she also examines instances where solidarity was lacking to say the least – feminists buying in to horrifically racist accusations that Black men are almost all sexual predators, for example. I previously wasn’t aware that the Republican Party had weaponised women’s suffrage against Black enfranchisement, appropriating what should have been a push for social justice as a Trojan horse for racist propaganda and policies. It doesn’t surprise me, of course, but historical details like that are worth learning and learning from.

This book is over forty years old now, yet it remains infuriatingly relevant. It’s powerful and incisive – I would recommend reading it if you haven’t already. I can see why Angela Davis is such a celebrated writer, and I’m eager to read her other famous book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, when I get the chance.

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kenz73's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

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flowingleaves's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Women, Race, and Class is, in my opinion, a very important book that everyone who is passionate about the topic should read, and then reread. Davis' writing is fascinating and the book is extremely insightful. An absolutely gripping, informative book that I highly recommend to just about everyone.

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bookgirllife's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Women, Race & Class is not only an incredibly powerful piece of feminist literature, it is an absolutely essential read in order to truly understand the necessity and importance of intersectional feminism. Oppression does not confine itself to labels. Davis does a great job of dissecting the connection between Black liberation, women’s rights, and social status, in a manner that is educational and informative while remaining accessible.

The writing was simple but effective and very well researched, adding more substance to arguments I have always known to be true. I listened to an audiobook version alongside my ebook copy, which made it easier to focus on what was being said (but this is no reflection on the easiness of following Davis’ points, rather more to do with my own attention span). I found the structure with which she framed this book to be impactful. I was already deeply moved and invested by the first chapter, which is not always the case for me with non-fiction.

Women, Race & Class follows the history of emancipation of Black people, from slavery all the way through the Civil Rights movement and beyond, highlighting the ties of Black liberation to the women’s rights and socialism. Davis calls to attention how intrinsically all of these societal struggles are linked, and articulates the point so well. She identifies the brutality of slavery, how the fight for Black liberation, in some ways, bore the equal rights movement, and the ways in which white women have let Black people down in centring white supremacy in their demands of equality. Furthermore, Davis discusses the socioeconomic situation of Black people following the emancipation and the history of Black people, particularly Black women, in the labour rights movement. There is no way you will leave this book without something important to think about.

For me, I had never given much meaningful consideration to issues such as involuntary sterilisation and the disproportionate impact it had on people of colour, as well as the Wages for Housework movement and what it would mean for homemakers before. I will certainly be doing some further reading on those topics at some stage. I think it is important to consume literature that challenges the way you think or what you have given thought to. It is through such experiences that we grow as human beings and gain a better understanding of the world we live and how it ended up the way it did.

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justinareads's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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bestamericangirl1's review

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

impressive book. angela davis never disappoints and i learnt a lot more about the emancipation of black people and misogynoir than i could’ve ever possibly learnt at school!

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