A review by laurareads87
Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard

5.0

A must-read for white folks in Canada. Policing Black Lives is clear, thoroughly researched, and wide ranging, detailing anti-Black racism (as well as colonialism) as it manifests structurally and systemically in an array of state institutions both historically and ongoingly. As Maynard notes in the introduction to the book, the myths of Canada as tolerant, welcoming, and multicultural (and the myth that racism is a problem either 'somewhere else' - ie. America - or 'back then,' but not here and now) are widespread; this book goes a long way in combating those myths. I appreciate the thorough citations and extensive bibliography (which is now full of asterisks in my copy, indicating texts I plan to read) and the emphasis on resistance and creating radical change for social justice.