Reviews for White Girl

The average rating for White Girl based on 2 reviews is 1.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-05-26 00:00:00 Alena Fischi Trash.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-09-28 00:00:00 Mark Koehne Meh. I knew I wasn't going to like this book. It's a shame, because it could've very easily been a commentary on how racism towards white people is an actual THING (and this is the part where SJWs angrily wave their fists at me for daring to mention it), but who am I kidding? Of course it would just end up ignoring that and being the same old narrative of "whites are always the evil bad guys, and minorities are always the innocent victims." It started out okay enough'I could actually relate to the main character, Josie, quite a bit. Not only from how I've sometimes been treated being a white person in a mostly black/latino school system, but also with it always just being me and my mom and not knowing what a "real" family is. Also, I feel like I know what it's like to get it from both sides'you're too "privileged" for minorities, but too "white trash" for whites, so you're looked down on no matter who it's coming from. But then about halfway through the book, she becomes friends with two girls at her new school on the rez, named Rachel and Rose. Cool, right? Except, sometimes they make racist remarks, and it's never really criticized. It's treated as though it's normal. And this is a problem that occurs all too often. It's like just because their friends with a white person, they can't possibly be racist themselves, right? (Funny how no one hesitates to call this bullshit excuse out whenever it's a white person making it). Even if they say flat-out offensive and WRONG things right in front of their white friend's face. Rose bashes whites when she says, "They think they're better than everybody", which I honestly don't even ever see. If anything I've noticed the opposite'whites are taught from a young age to hate themselves and to never disagree with anything a minority says, for fear of being called a "racist" (even though we already are anyway, just for breathing). And Rachel makes a comment along the lines of, "I'm not crazy about whites and how they act." Um…have you SEEN how others act? If it makes you feel any better, I'm not crazy about how ignorant people like you act either. There's also a weird part where Rose gets mad at Josie because Josie doesn't talk to anybody at her school'she says she thinks Josie's being "stuck up", which is a bizarre thing idiots in general assume about those of us who are quiet, which makes entirely no sense whatsoever. Josie is non-social, because well what do you know'she's shy, she's in a new place, but most importantly'people treat her like shit, for her race. And Rose KNOWS this, because she has already SEEN it herself. Yet she's still unhappy to Josie's reaction to it all, how she's afraid, and how she's not exactly enthusiastic about going up to people who treat her like shit. OMG You mean white people have feelings too?? Who knew? When Josie gets bullied'which should've been a wake-up call for people who don't believe whites can be abused, tormented, assaulted, put in danger, for BEING white'it is still ignored and made to be about other people. That's probably the worst thing about racism towards whites'when it's not being denied or ignored, it's being derailed. Because even when someone sees with their own eyes a white person being the target of racism, they are just SO desperate to not acknowledge it as such, that they end up twisting it to make it seem like it's about someone else entirely . So our own experiences are silenced and taken from us, and we can never be the main subjects of our own experiences. We're just there to serve as "amplifiers" for the other groups, isn't that all we're good for? Rose even flat-out says that she's not standing up to the bullies for Josie, she's doing it for herself. What a friend. This was supposed to be JOSIE'S story'but it isn't, naturally. I also didn't understand the contradiction of "let's tell everyone about them, and then everyone will know!" even though it was clear that everyone already did know…the bullying took place right in front of everyone's faces, and it had been going on long before Josie ever arrived too. So…which one is it? And then the grand finale…when Josie feels slightly suspicious about getting into a car with a guy that she just met, barely knows, and is known to have a 'bad rep' on the rez (that Rose keeps drilling into her head), Josie comes to the ghastly and ludicrous conclusion that she must be…racist. Of course. Because don't you know? A white girl is never, ever, EVER allowed to exercise caution towards someone they don't know…if they're a minority. A white girl is never EVER allowed to be uncomfortable or intimidated or confused about one's intentions if they're a minority. Which is why social activists tend to switch gears faster than a lightning bolt whenever the subjects of cat-calling or even sexual assault come up, if it's about a minority doing it. Because in the hierarchy of social justice, race> gender, usually. So white ladies? You're supposed to spare their feelings before your safety. Luckily Zeb turned out to be a good guy, but the question is, what if he wasn't? WHAT IF? I literally about dropped the book when I came to that part. This book is really just one big lead-up to how yet another white person has been brainwashed to believe that they are inherently racist when they haven't done one goddamn racist thing at all. I don't know what I expected. Was I expecting something that actually respected us and acknowledged us as human beings? Hardly. I can't say I'm shocked, even though I'm disappointed. Obviously most people are just too afraid to write about it (especially in the YA genre) so I guess I'll just have to do it myself (unless someone beats me to it). The only reason it's getting 2 stars instead of 1 is because I liked the characters of Luke, Martin, the grandma, and Zeb. And the story of Martin's sister was so heartbreaking. I was EVEN slightly intrigued by Arnie, they never really went into detail about him at all. He was just sort of a clown. Josie telling him off at the end was quite stellar, though I thought it sort of came out of nowhere, kind of like those fake Tumblr stories.