Scan barcode
A review by poisonenvy
Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard
4.0
When I think of racism in Canada, I mostly think of the racism against Indigenous peoples. It's not that I wasn't aware of anti-black racism in Canada, but up until recently, I had always thought of it more as an individual racism instead of one that is just as institutionalized and systemic as the racism against the Indigenous peoples. I don't think I had even been aware that slavery existed in Canada - I remember being taught a lot about American slavery, and how people enslaved in America would escape to Canada, where they would then live happy and fulfilling lives, free in the Great White North or whatever revisionist history we were taught.
It was refreshing, then, to see a book that was about racism, specifically in Canada. Most of the critical race theory I've read has come out of the States, and while that is all valuable as well, it's left me with a big blind spot when it comes to systemic racism in Canada. This book is a much needed light to shine on the darker parts of Canada, and it taught me a lot. It's very well researched, and while Canada itself lacks data in specific areas - and so American data was used as a jumping off point - and I found a lot of valuable information in these pages.
It's written very academically, but I also found the language accessible. I have read quite a lot of academic, social justice based literature, so maybe I'm a poor judge of that, but that Maynard did an excellent job of explaining any terms that might not be in the public discourse, and keeping away from highly specific terms when more general terms would suffice.
This book was highly intersectional, which I was very, very happy to see. Maynard spoke often about disabled, trans, and queer black experiences, and had a strong focus on black feminism.
The only thing I was a little disappointed in was that I would have been happy with a book twice this length. There were a lot of events mentioned in passing and never really explained - I knew some of them, but didn't know all of them. There were a lot of concepts that were introduced, but never delved deeper into - most particular to my interests was the abolition of prisons. Maynard was usually pretty good about providing additional reading when specific concepts came up, though all the prison abolition resources she provided are American based and it would be nice to see some from a Canadian perspective. This book really serves more as a thorough introduction to institutionalized anti-black racism in Canada than something more in depth, but I found it to be a very valuable jumping off point to further my own education on the topic.
It was refreshing, then, to see a book that was about racism, specifically in Canada. Most of the critical race theory I've read has come out of the States, and while that is all valuable as well, it's left me with a big blind spot when it comes to systemic racism in Canada. This book is a much needed light to shine on the darker parts of Canada, and it taught me a lot. It's very well researched, and while Canada itself lacks data in specific areas - and so American data was used as a jumping off point - and I found a lot of valuable information in these pages.
It's written very academically, but I also found the language accessible. I have read quite a lot of academic, social justice based literature, so maybe I'm a poor judge of that, but that Maynard did an excellent job of explaining any terms that might not be in the public discourse, and keeping away from highly specific terms when more general terms would suffice.
This book was highly intersectional, which I was very, very happy to see. Maynard spoke often about disabled, trans, and queer black experiences, and had a strong focus on black feminism.
The only thing I was a little disappointed in was that I would have been happy with a book twice this length. There were a lot of events mentioned in passing and never really explained - I knew some of them, but didn't know all of them. There were a lot of concepts that were introduced, but never delved deeper into - most particular to my interests was the abolition of prisons. Maynard was usually pretty good about providing additional reading when specific concepts came up, though all the prison abolition resources she provided are American based and it would be nice to see some from a Canadian perspective. This book really serves more as a thorough introduction to institutionalized anti-black racism in Canada than something more in depth, but I found it to be a very valuable jumping off point to further my own education on the topic.