This review is going to be short, because there’s really only one thing to say: Read this book.
Here’s why. This book takes us through 2017, looking at some of the instances of racism that happened each month of that year in Canada (mostly in Ontario). Each of these instances was shocking, catastrophic and infuriating. None of them should have happened. And yet, in this nation we all like to think of as tolerant and welcoming, they did.
It has now been two months since I read this book, and while some of the details have faded, the emotions it evoked have not. As I’m learning more about race relations in Canada, I am becoming less shocked to hear stories of horrendous miscarriages of justice, police brutality, systemic bias and racial profiling. But this book is full of things that will shock pretty much anyone. I was in tears several times while reading this book, and I have rarely been so angry. This book leaves no room for naive and utopian views of a happily multicultural Canada. That illusion will be destroyed in the reading, as it needs to be.
Cole writes with a straightforwardness and unflinching honesty that makes it impossible to deny his words. As I was reading, I was constantly reminded of Malcolm X – his insistence on speaking truth, damn the consequences. There is some of that fire and steadfast adherence to calling our country to account here, and it is magnetic. Cole is clear, precise in his choice of words, and leaves no room for excuses or fuzzy logic. In his writing Canadian systemic racism is a simple and easily defined issue, and one that is very real, and all too prevalent.
This book was simultaneously one of the easiest (the writing is flawless) and hardest (the stories are harrowing) I have read this year. Along with Policing Black Lives (a book I am having to read in stages as it is a lot to take in) this book will provide an absolutely necessary understanding of what it means to be Black in Canada in today’s world. From immigration policy to police brutality to unfair employment practices, it calls out racism at every level of society. And it does so with real stories of human suffering and pain.
I am now a huge fan of Cole’s writing. I love his style, and I am in awe of his ability to cut right to the bones of the story he is trying to tell – whatever that story is. He pulls no punches and does not concern himself with how anyone will react to what he has to say. His role is to present the reality of being Black in Canada, and he does that without any concessions to White readers’ guilt or discomfort. For which I applaud him. It’s not an easy book, but it absolutely is one that belongs at the top of your TBR. (He reads the audiobook, so if you’re a fan of listening to your books, I highly recommend this one!)
A bracing, provocative, and perspective-shifting book from one of Canada’s most celebrated and uncompromising writers, Desmond Cole. The Skin We’re In will spark a national conversation, influence policy, and inspire activists.
In his 2015 cover story for Toronto Life magazine, Desmond Cole exposed the racist actions of the Toronto police force, detailing the dozens of times he had been stopped and interrogated under the controversial practice of carding. The story quickly came to national prominence, shaking the country to its core and catapulting its author into the public sphere. Cole used his newfound profile to draw insistent, unyielding attention to the injustices faced by Black Canadians on a daily basis.
Both Cole’s activism and journalism find vibrant expression in his first book, The Skin We’re In. Puncturing the bubble of Canadian smugness and naive assumptions of a post-racial nation, Cole chronicles just one year—2017—in the struggle against racism in this country. It was a year that saw calls for tighter borders when Black refugees braved frigid temperatures to cross into Manitoba from the States, Indigenous land and water protectors resisting the celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, police across the country rallying around an officer accused of murder, and more.
The year also witnessed the profound personal and professional ramifications of Desmond Cole’s unwavering determination to combat injustice. In April, Cole disrupted a Toronto police board meeting by calling for the destruction of all data collected through carding. Following the protest, Cole, a columnist with the Toronto Star, was summoned to a meeting with the paper’s opinions editor and informed that his activism violated company policy. Rather than limit his efforts defending Black lives, Cole chose to sever his relationship with the publication. Then in July, at another police board meeting, Cole challenged the board to respond to accusations of a police cover-up in the brutal beating of Dafonte Miller by an off-duty police officer and his brother. When Cole refused to leave the meeting until the question was publicly addressed, he was arrested. The image of Cole walking out of the meeting, handcuffed and flanked by officers, fortified the distrust between the city’s Black community and its police force.
Month-by-month, Cole creates a comprehensive picture of entrenched, systemic inequality. Urgent, controversial, and unsparingly honest, The Skin We’re In is destined to become a vital text for anti-racist and social justice movements in Canada, as well as a potent antidote to the all-too-present complacency of many white Canadians. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Skin We’re In
Author: Desmond Cole
Series: No
Edition: Hardback/Audiobook
Published By: Doubleday Books
Released: January 7, 2020
Genre: Non-Fiction, Canadian Society, Race
Pages: 320
Date Read: July 6-7, 2020
Rating: 10/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4,57/5 (3,127 ratings)
What a fascinating (but sad) read.