Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off, this book was a quick read; the chapters were short and flowed smoothly. As far as the content goes without going chapter by chapter, it can really all be summed up by saying this: "I've had many negative experiences with white people (racism, or some sort of prejudice) therefore most/all white are racist or prejudice". She talks about all the assumptions and bad/and or annoying things white people have done to her, yet then goes on to make assumptions about all white people, for example, she explains the origin of her name, a name that is not a typical female name and most white people think she is a white male. Obviously most people will think she's a male with a name like Austin, but she seems to think only white people will make this assumption, which isn't a crazy assumption. Austin also describes other experiences of not being able to relate to teachers when they give examples in class (such as referencing television shows, music, or hobbies), and while there is nothing wrong with being upset about that, she makes it seem as if it was personal, when in fact a white teacher will probably use an example from their personal lives or one that most of the children would understand, and since most of her classmates were white it makes sense. One absurd part in the book talked about how Austin received an apology from a white woman who was a conference planner who felt bad for "making purposeful decisions that uplifted white women above women of color as presenters", while it was never stated what that exactly meant, Austin offers some suggestions about how she could avoid this in the future. One of these suggestions was to make "people of color the highest-paid presenters---a nod to their value, expertise, and the emotional labor of discussing race and justice". I almost fell out of my chair from laughing so hard. Seriously? Pay them more based on their race and supposedly "emotional labor"?? Right. What a joke. The entire book is filled with assumptions and the victim hood mentality, and often times what seems like a strong dislike for all white people (although some of that is understandable) While I understand and have no problem with Austin writing about her experiences and how that made her feel, I do have a problem with assumptions and generalizations made from those experiences, no matter the race. There are far too many logical fallacies, assumptions, and just absurd statements to go over in a review, but this book is full of them.