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A review by _brittsbookshelf_
Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard
3.0
If I didn't have to read this book for a history assignment, I would have put it down a long time ago.
As I mean in no way to disregard the struggles that Black peoples have and still face, this book was frustrating to read on the author's part. Although it has some great information that I didn't already know, it was merely made of other people's statistics and quotes, along with a whole thesaurus. Not only is the book dense with information, but it seems like every other word is unnecessarily changed to a much bigger word to make the author sound smarter.
The few chapters about wrongful incarceration, immigration, and working standards were great. The author gave you a sense of disgust for how the Canadian government treats Black people in this regard. However, I do believe that the book should be renamed to include Indigenous lives, as well as the province of Nova Scotia because both of these things are integrated into many of the chapters. There were only three or four of the provinces that were talked about, with Nova Scotia being top by far.
I feel as though there are a lot of assumptions in this book as well. For example, the author takes information and quotes that she says herself are not backed up to be against Black lives but still pushes the idea that they are policing the Black community. It seemed like she was trying too hard to play a victim card when there are many other instances where the Black community has been treated unfairly that she could have talked about.
The book is written with a ton of citations, which made it hard to digest the information in some chapters. It would have been an easier read if the author added more of her own words into it.
I gave this book a 3/5 because I do believe that racism is still a huge issue in Canada and that we need more representation and fair treatment within our Black communities. I am glad someone is writing about it with the intent to educate and inform others about racial inequalities, I just think that she could have done a much better job at it.
As I mean in no way to disregard the struggles that Black peoples have and still face, this book was frustrating to read on the author's part. Although it has some great information that I didn't already know, it was merely made of other people's statistics and quotes, along with a whole thesaurus. Not only is the book dense with information, but it seems like every other word is unnecessarily changed to a much bigger word to make the author sound smarter.
The few chapters about wrongful incarceration, immigration, and working standards were great. The author gave you a sense of disgust for how the Canadian government treats Black people in this regard. However, I do believe that the book should be renamed to include Indigenous lives, as well as the province of Nova Scotia because both of these things are integrated into many of the chapters. There were only three or four of the provinces that were talked about, with Nova Scotia being top by far.
I feel as though there are a lot of assumptions in this book as well. For example, the author takes information and quotes that she says herself are not backed up to be against Black lives but still pushes the idea that they are policing the Black community. It seemed like she was trying too hard to play a victim card when there are many other instances where the Black community has been treated unfairly that she could have talked about.
The book is written with a ton of citations, which made it hard to digest the information in some chapters. It would have been an easier read if the author added more of her own words into it.
I gave this book a 3/5 because I do believe that racism is still a huge issue in Canada and that we need more representation and fair treatment within our Black communities. I am glad someone is writing about it with the intent to educate and inform others about racial inequalities, I just think that she could have done a much better job at it.