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Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'
An African American and Latinx History: An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
2 reviews
cemeterygay's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
A pretty good introduction into Latinx and African American history, some issues with descriptions of race in Latin America and some glossing over of some of the harmful anti-immigrant beliefs of some chicano activists but beyond that a pretty good overview on the subject.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Colonisation
bluejayreads's review
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
When I picked up this book, I wondered why African American history and Latinx history were lumped together. Why didn’t each get its own book? But after reading a little bit, I understand. African American history and Latinx history in the United States are deeply intertwined, more than I would have expected or guessed.
I really appreciated that this book did not cover in depth the history everybody knows. It goes from the arrival of the first imported Africans in the American colonies nearly to present day, covering laws and events relevant to African American and Latinx communities, how they felt about them, and how they reacted, and very few things in these pages are things I already knew. Abraham Lincoln was mentioned twice and the Emancipation Proclamation only once; Martin Luther King Jr. was discussed only in the context of labor rights and unionization. This is not the same old stuff you covered in history class – this is history you don’t get taught in your ordinary history curriculum. Some of these events I was alive for and still had no idea about.
My only issue with this book was that it throws around terms without actually defining them. I figured out “racial capitalism” from nomenclature and context, but I’m still not entirely sure what “emancipatory internationalism” is. I wish there was an appendix of definitions at the back (although I read the audiobook, so there may very well be definitions in the print version).
This is a very worthwhile book. It taught me history that I never learned, illustrated racism, classism, and colonialism with real historical examples, and gave me perspectives on the United States that I don’t often hear. It’s a little drier than I usually like to read, but it’s worth reading anyway.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Racial slurs, Colonisation, and Racism
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