A review by seclement
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch

4.0

This book is well written and engaging. It will make you think and it will affirm your beliefs if you are, like me, a liberal, middle class, educated person. Though it contains some facts, it really is an autobiography/memoir interwoven with supporting stories of others and some facts. If categorised as non-fiction or sociology, it doesn't quite measure up. But as part of the genre of social commentary or memoirs, it is a work of art. Beautifully told and insightful, beneficial not just for those that struggle with racial or ethnic identity, but also those who, like me, live in a place where you are readily identifiable as an 'other' ...a shibboleth. This, however, is my main criticism. The book underplays the privilege of class and education, even whilst acknowledging her own (let's face it... extreme) privilege in that regard, and borders on obsession with the idea that struggles of race and identity are 'the real' struggle of modern Britain. She has had so many advantages in life, and though she acknowledges those throughout and tries to bring in people who grew up without those advantages, I felt that the book really needed more information and more commentary on people for whom an obsession with identity is perhaps something they might have developed, if it weren't for the fact that the very tangible struggles they face in daily life tend to preoccupy them. I agree with others that, at times, it seems she tries a bit too hard to speak for all non-white people in this book, and one could walk away with the impression that her level of interest and indefatigable search for identity is typical of all non-white British people. She does at one point border on acknowledging this isn't the case by using some survey data, but she stops short of admitting that the extent of her fixation is perhaps beyond the norm. That said, this book was incredibly insightful, especially for me as an immigrant to this country who can clearly see the racial tensions but feels like no one really wants to talk about it. It's as though it's 'unseemly' and 'unBritish', even though there are passive aggressive (and even outright aggressive) acts and words that characterise everyday life in this country. It's in this area where Hirsch knocks it out of the park and sheds light on the dark areas of British society. Some of the material is repetitive of Olusoga's Black and British, and I recommend you read that book if you want a factual account of how we got here today. Brit(ish), on the other hand, is less a historical or factual account, but rather an informed testimonial about where we are and how it affects real people, along with some facts about current conditions and how we may have arrived here. The chapter on Brexit is a bit tired and one-sided, but that's just because I have read so many things claiming to explain the vote that I can see how a person's views clearly affects the facts they choose to highlight. Otherwise, I think the book is well worth a read for British people and those, like me, who find themselves in a country where 'otherness' is so clearly a massive driving force and yet no one will talk about it. While I am still not quite sure where this book sits in terms of genres, if this book is to serve as a conversation starter, as she says at the very end, then I think she succeeds in that, even if I am not entirely convinced that the book as written will reach those who really need to hear its messages.