Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls / COPY 3

by Jessica McDiarmid

Paperback, 2019

Status

Available

Call number

362.88 M34 2019 c.3

Call number

362.88 M34 2019 c.3

Description

Sociology. True Crime. Nonfiction. HTML:"These murder cases expose systemic problems... By examining each murder within the context of Indigenous identity and regional hardships, McDiarmid addresses these very issues, finding reasons to look for the deeper roots of each act of violence." �??The New York Times Book Review In the vein of the bestsellers I'll Be Gone in the Dark and The Line Becomes a River, a penetrating, deeply moving account of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls of Highway 16, and a searing indictment of the society that failed them. For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern British Columbia. The corridor is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis. Journalist Jessica McDiarmid meticulously investigates the devastating effect these tragedies have had on the families of the victims and their communities, and how systemic racism and indifference have created a climate in which Indigenous women and girls are overpoliced yet underprotected. McDiarmid interviews those closest to the victims�??mothers and fathers, siblings and friends�??and provides an intimate firsthand account of their loss and unflagging fight for justice. Examining the historically fraught social and cultural tensions between settlers and Indigenous peoples in the region, McDiarmid links these cases to others across Canada�??now estimated to number up to four thousand�??contextualizing them within a broader examination of the undervaluing of Indigenous lives in the country. Highway of Tears is a piercing exploration of our ongoing failure to provide justice for the victims and a testament to their families' and communities' unwavering determinat… (more)

Publication

Anchor Canada (2020), 352 pages

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member akblanchard
No one knows exactly how many Indigenous girls and women have been abducted and murdered along British Columbia's Route 16, especially on the 450-mile stretch between the small, impoverished towns of Prince George and Prince Rupert. This book tells the stories of several such victims. It also
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highlights the systemic problems, including racism, sexism, lack of resources, and flaws in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) workplace culture, that have stood in the way of getting these cases solved. This book is particularly valuable in that it give voice to the often-overlooked families of the missing women. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member bookbrig
This is fascinating and deeply disturbing. I had some general knowledge about the Highway of Tears from activists sharing information online, but I didn't have a good understanding of the whole picture. I think McDiarmid did some of the most thorough and dynamic writing about victims and families
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that I've ever read in a true crime style. This book makes sure that you know each girl or woman mentioned as individuals, who they were, how they grew up, their families, etc. and it centers them in the narrative, rather than perpetrators. It's heart-wrenching to read as the stories of each new individual stack throughout the story, but it also gives examples of their vitality and promise and loving relationships with families along with the deeply sorrowful losses.

I've seen several reviews complaining that this is disorganized, but I disagree. It's not exactly a linear story, but it's a book about a series of losses, investigations, and lives that overlap and intertwine in a variety of ways. I definitely recommend this if you're at all interested in true crime or want a better understanding of what the Highway of Tears actually is.
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ISBN

0385687591 / 9780385687591

Barcode

97803856875913
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