Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

17 reviews

shanflan's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

It is extremely important that we face the horrific reality of our past (and present) to hope for a better future. I learned so much. Everyone should read this.

Wilkerson's prose along with her incorporation of research, history, and anecdotes cemented the ideas in each chapter. 

The unspeakable torture and separations from family that those forced into slavery endured and even the lynchings of the jim crow era seem so far in the past, but to this day the casual disregard for black life is ubiquitous as shown by the thousands of police and vigilante shootings of unarmed black citizens. But it's not only this outward display of hatred/racism that upholds the caste system; just as important are the unconscious biases, the silent compliance of the upper caste and the desire of the upper caste to keep their place as if life is a zero-sum game.

Some of the most striking moments for me:
-The notion that race is really an arbitrary social construct created in America.
- I had no idea how much inspiration the Nazis took from America in the classification and treatment of the lowest caste (noting that "the one-drop rule was too harsh for the Nazis")
-2022 marks the first year that the U.S. will have been an independent nation for as long as slavery lasted on its soil.
-The story of the little boy who wasn't allowed to swim with his baseball team but was eventually allowed to make one lap atop a floating device only after everyone else got out of the pool, reminding him "just don't touch the water"
-That the south still displays statues of confederate leaders who many are proud of rather than ashamed of, and how connected these symbols of slavery are to the notion that the upper caste will do anything to keep their perceived superiority, as shown by the 2016 election.

This was a very challenging read, but I like how Wilkerson ends the novel with a sentiment of hope. As a white person, I know that empathy is no substitute for experience itself, but with privilege comes the responsibility of allyship, and "the moral duty to act when one sees another person treated unfairly".

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Hate crime, and Antisemitism

kelseyland's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

A highly informative book that outlines the history of racism in America up to the present day and makes the argument that the embedded, institutionalized mechanisms of racism function like the caste system in India and the framework used in Nazi Germany to commit atrocities and genocide against Jewish people.  An essential foundational text to understanding the deeply embedded nature of racism in America.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Genocide, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Slavery

thepassivebookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

annabunce's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Read this book. Isabel Wilkerson does a incredible job framing and explaining the American caste system within the context of other caste systems to fully illustrate the history of slavery and slavery's long lasting impact on Black Americans. I feel like reading this book I realized just how successful the American narrative has been at downplaying the horrors and systemic normalized racism faced by Black Americans. Definitely the kind of book that will shift your thinking and make you look at your world in a new way. This pulled back the curtain and made me consider Canada's own caste system in a whole new light. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Police brutality, Murder, Medical trauma, Incest, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, and Child abuse

rollinginbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

I learned a lot from the authors description of America as a race-based caste system.  Wilkerson show's how American slavery and racism influenced policy and practice in Nazi Germany.  She also compares and contrasts America's caste system with that of India.  This was a tough read and also an essential read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Hate crime

letmetakea_shelfie_'s review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Torture

jordanramirezpuckett's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

If I could make one book required reading for everyone residing in the United States, it would be this. It’s completely reframed how I think about race in America and how I am taking in the news. I cannot recommend this book enough. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Sexual violence