Reviews

The European Tribe by Caryl Phillips

intastic's review

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dark informative reflective fast-paced

2.5

hanntastic's review

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2.0

Global Read 155: St. Kitts and Nevis

Obviously a book about Europe is a weird choice for this country but I had trouble finding anything else. This book is from 1987 and it is very dated. Casually drawn conclusions about various ethnic groups, name dropping that he had dinner with James Baldwin.

niniane's review

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5.0

1986 travelogue of a Black Brit through Europe. He encountered a lot of racial microaggressions, especially in "progressive" Sweden.

He mentioned feeling alienated from the art, architecture, and museums. He could recognize that they were beautiful, but they were also symbols of colonialism.

He wrote about the difficulty of life in the Communist countries, where food staples could be scarce.

He visited James Baldwin's home in France.

I found it interesting to see this perspective from the eighties.

elisteixner's review

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medium-paced

2.75

alexsiddall's review

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4.0

A telling book, which I wish I had read 30 years ago. It is an indictment of European racism as he visits various European and American places and experiences first hand the various forms racism takes.
There have been numerous improvements in our consciousness of our racism, but it seems to me these are more superficial than real: we can't say 'wog' or 'yid' in public any more, and sportspeople take the knee: but have we done anything other than drive prejudice below the surface? The evidence of structural and cultural racism is alive everywhere.
Recommended by Johnny Pitts in his excellent 'Afropeans'.

infiinitepie's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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