Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging

337 Pages·2018·6.34 MB·English

by  Afua Hirsch

CONTENTS
Cover
About the Book
About the Author
Dedication
Title Page
Epigraph
Introduction: Identity Lessons
1 Where Are You From?
2 Origins
3 Bodies
4 Heritage
5 Places
6 Class
7 The New Black
8. The Door of No Return
Notes
Acknowledgements
Playlist
Credits
Index
Vintage Story Page
Vintage Family Page
Copyright
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Sunday Times bestseller that reveals the uncomfortable truth about
race and identity in Britain today
You’re British.
Your parents are British.
Your partner, your children and most of your friends are British.
So why do people keep asking where you’re from?
We are a nation in denial about our imperial past and the racism that plagues our
present. Brit(ish) is Afua Hirsch’s personal and provocative exploration of how
this came to be – and an urgent call for change.
‘The book for our divided and dangerous times’ David Olusoga
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Afua Hirsch is a writer, journalist and broadcaster. She is a columnist for the
Guardian, and appears regularly on the BBC, Sky News and CNN. Brit(ish) is
her first book and was awarded a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize for
Non-Fiction.
For my grandparents, Paul Kofi, Ophelia Joyce,
John and Ann, whose stories have inspired mine.
In memory of Alexander, whom we called King, gone
too soon.
To Naya Ketawa. This is for you.
AFUA HIRSCH
Brit(ish)
On Race, Identity and Belonging
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place
where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
– Maya Angelou,
All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes
INTRODUCTION: IDENTITY LESSONS
British sheet music cover, c. 1850. Minstrels were a popular form of
entertainment in Victorian music halls, and were broadcast on the
BBC until the 1970s.
The world is wrong. You can’t put the past behind you.
It’s buried in you; it’s turned your flesh into its own
cupboard.
– Claudia Rankine, Citizen