lola1212's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25


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glittery_phoenix's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

5.0

This is an incredible, world-view shifting book that should be an essential read for every Brit. 

It conceptualises terms like race, racism, prejudice, colourism, intersectionality and institutional racism..... But it does so in a way that is not only digestible to the reader but creates a tangible mental map of how everything is connected. 

Touching on topics from history- the Atlantic slave trade to individual cases of assault, police brutality and injustice. This helps to explain the bigger picture of how things came to be, but also cultural turning points that had huge influence on the culture of Britian.

As someone from Liverpool I was very aware of our city's dark past with slavery, but the way Reni brings to life this history is brilliantly insightful while still rightfully difficult to learn about. 

I felt privileged to be taken on the journey of the author from her childlike innocence up to the empowering and beautifully eloquent woman she is at the time of writing. 

No review can do this justice, I can only implore you to read it. If it makes you uncomfortable then that is all the more reason to not shift your gaze. This book should be essential reading for every British person and anyone, of any race, who cares about understanding life experiences outside their own.

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withlivjones's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

An informative and eye-opening book that covers every single base when it comes to racism in Britain, from black history to the many flaws in the system to how racism intersects with feminism. Why are we not taught any of this at school?? Essential reading for white people so we can be true allies to people of colour. 

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narbine's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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gayelfboi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0


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lief_'s review against another edition

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informative

4.5


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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative

5.0

i dont really have anything to say about a book like this, honestly. its something you can only learn from, rather than have sort of criticism on.

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penofpossibilities's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective

4.5


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prettynerdy3's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0


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samdalefox's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad slow-paced

3.5

Renni Eddo-Lodge provides a good primer and accessible book on institutional racism embedded into our UK history and culture. It is a good entry point for anyone wanting to become actively anti-racist. Anecdotal evidence for this, my mum has bought a copy of the book to read! A 57 year old sheltered white woman is open to self-learning and I'm proud of her. It seems to have a wide appeal to the people that need to read this... white people.

Main con: the larger points on intersectionality (particuarly around that of class) I found to be overly simplistic, probably because I've read more around the subject - I'd recommend reading Bell Hooks and Angela Saini, plus Eddo Lodge credits the coiner of the term intersectionaliy Dr  Kimberlé Crenshaw. I also found this slow to read as an audiobook, so I read it at 1.5x speed. Main pro: It gives a UK perspective with UK examples. This may be obvious but it's important to highlight. A common theme in our culture is the ignorant view that racism isn't a problem here because it doesn't look exactly like that what we see in American culture, news, and anti-racist literature.  American civil rights history often eclipses the UK one. The UK absolutely does have racism and a rich civil rights history and Eddo-Lodge does well to introduce many contemporary examples across England that should shake up newcomers to the topic. My favourite quote on this subject: "Faced with collective forgetting, we must fight to remember".
 
Ultimately, although I personally didn't find the way it was written very engaging, I have learnt more and I greatly value how accessible the book is, I genuinely think it will engage a wider audience that we need to become engaged in anti-racism. The author recognises that racism is structural, that structures are made out of people and thus are an amplification of personal prejudices. I have hope that this book starts that process by challenging and educating the UK population on our personal prejudices. 
 

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