Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo

16 reviews

lancemama's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Bullying, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Classism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and Police brutality

Moderate: Cursing, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Islamophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

lovetlr's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Slavery

Minor: Hate crime

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I did not stop talking about this book for the time it took me to listen to the audio. I loved it. I was taught by majority-white school systems that didn't go into detail about much black history. And if it wasn't "relevant," rarely spoke on the racism of important historical figures. So I learned a lot from Mediocre. I appreciated Oluo's writing and tone (in the audiobook). She's an incredible writer. I appreciated her honesty and fear and her empathy despite it all. Sometimes I struggle to see things fully without changing my POV. It's important to read books like this in order to better see the magnitude of what we're facing. I hope we CAN do better.

I think this book is SO BRILLIANT. I loved the diversity of topics and how Oluo connected past to present. How she'd start with a relatable recent event and go back into the past then slowly bring it forward again. I especially enjoyed chapters which I didn't have much knowledge of: I didn't know much about Buffalo Bill or football before this book, being a fan of neither Westerns or... football. Those chapters were just informational frenzies for me and I parroted them daily to my boyfriend as I read.

In reading and recommending this book, I encountered a lot of defensiveness from others, which was frustrating. It's easy to be defensive. It's a natural instinct. But as Oluo said repeatedly, why do we get defensive? It's important to investigate these feelings and consider fully opening our minds; listening without our guard up. Oluo is a phenomenal writer. Please read this. Please recommend this. Please talk about this with your white friends and loved ones. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and Hate crime

Minor: Racial slurs and Gun violence

This book is anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-classism. It's about how white supremacy has created a hateful and harmful system for minorities, especially people of color, in America. The trigger warnings I mention exist within the book but the author and the book is clearly AGAINST these acts. It does in no way promote them.

perpetualpages's review

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

CWs: References to sexual harassment, pedophilia, and sexual violence; discussions of white supremacy, racism, police brutality, hate crimes, and (reported) racial and sexual slurs; explorations of genocide, anti-Indigenous violence, war crimes, and chattel slavery; exploration of misogyny, deportation, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism; some descriptions of online harassment, domestic terrorism, suicide, and gun violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Police brutality, Slavery, and Hate crime

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide

maxgdy's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexism, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Classism, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

rachrreads's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

While I agree with many of the arguments in this book on white male supremacy in America, I found the flow of the book to be hard to follow. This book really just felt like a bunch of essays thrown together with the main points of the argument at the beginning and end.

I learned quite a bit through all these stories/essays though, so that really helped the rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia

traciereads's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, and Hate crime

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Police brutality, Misogyny, Murder, and Slavery

Minor: Antisemitism, Cursing, and Islamophobia

bookiecharm's review

slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Hate crime

aqtbenz's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, Death, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia

evaniem's review

informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

I absolutely loved this book, it was difficult at times because the author does cover some pretty heavy topics, but it was so informative and really shined a light on many ways that racism is ingrained in every aspect of American history, and is continuously upheld today. The author also shares her own personal experiences with racism and xenophobia interspersed within the many facts and historical narratives that she tells throughout the book, keeping the book engaging, and allowing the reader to feel more connected to the topics and issues being discussed. She is an incredible writer and I am so grateful that she has chosen to do the difficult work of educating us on these issues when they are things that she struggles with every day

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Slavery, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide