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turrtleaugust's review against another edition
5.0
This book is vulnerable, bold, and essential in our current world. The writing style is extremely unique and the content on racism, whiteness, and oppression is direct and impactful. I read this book for my creative non-fiction writing course and I’m already starting to re-read it. The use of personal narrative in connection with historical texts and primary sources are stunning and engage the reader. As a young black student this book was affirming and refreshing. As a writer this book is inspiring and redefines what an academic text can look like. I’m feeling called to listen, question, and engage as the author does throughout the entire book. This is a must read for anyone wanting to understand more about racial justice, whiteness, and inequality.
leah_alexandra's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
The kind of read that leaves the reader with more questions than answers, but in the best way. Beautifully written and imaginatively structured.
dkai's review against another edition
5.0
An essential read for anyone. Overall it is a call to engage with whiteness and interrogate it to see what whiteness is in all facets of life. Time and time again we see examples where people across divides will all simultaneously crumple when whiteness is explicitly named. This book picks up the crumpled white paper and smooths it out to see what the wrinkles have to say. I suspect this will be the second book this year that I'll have to buy to reread and loan to people.
christier's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
cheerfully_chaotic_leo's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
johnotoole84's review against another edition
5.0
… Fuck…
Exceptional. Bracing, poetic, unsure, and relatable. As any good analysis, Rankine takes what we already see and know, and synthesises an understanding that seems natural, or even obvious, but that we know is anything but.
There are moments when the format / artistry overshadows the content, but they are rare. And my goodness, what content. This should be required reading for all American or anglophone high school students.
Defies description in narrative and reviewing terms, but it’s simply a book that needs to be read.
Exceptional. Bracing, poetic, unsure, and relatable. As any good analysis, Rankine takes what we already see and know, and synthesises an understanding that seems natural, or even obvious, but that we know is anything but.
There are moments when the format / artistry overshadows the content, but they are rare. And my goodness, what content. This should be required reading for all American or anglophone high school students.
Defies description in narrative and reviewing terms, but it’s simply a book that needs to be read.
annebennett1957's review against another edition
4.0
This is a difficult book to read. Difficult because of the structure and format and difficult because of the topics. I really adored Citizen: An American Lyric by Rankine and was very eager to get my hands on Just Us. Unfortunately my old eyes had difficulty with the font size especially of the footnotes and struggled to keep up the continuity of what I was reading when the little red dots told me it was time to go and read a footnote.
But.
Rankine is so right on. She makes me think about everything in our society that is geared toward whiteness and asks me to think about it...stuff like cutting in line to get on a plane, blonde as the preferred hair color, even when the majority of people in the world aren't blonde, changing the pigment of the skin of a tennis player on the graphics made of her to be lighter than she is...These examples aren't even the tough ones about justice and discrimination in housing. I have miles to go toward a goal of antiracism. Please Lord, let me get there before I die.
https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-just-us-american-conversation.html
But.
Rankine is so right on. She makes me think about everything in our society that is geared toward whiteness and asks me to think about it...stuff like cutting in line to get on a plane, blonde as the preferred hair color, even when the majority of people in the world aren't blonde, changing the pigment of the skin of a tennis player on the graphics made of her to be lighter than she is...These examples aren't even the tough ones about justice and discrimination in housing. I have miles to go toward a goal of antiracism. Please Lord, let me get there before I die.
https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-just-us-american-conversation.html
candaceopper's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant. If you feel like you need to read White Fragility, read this instead.
israology's review against another edition
5.0
We as a society don’t say thank you to Claudia Rankine enough.