Scan barcode
anareads87's review against another edition
5.0
"I was not born with an opinion of the world but it clearly seemed that the world had an opinion of people like me"
This book was amazing. It's a mix of autobiography and political history and I learnt so much about it. It should be a must read, as it's truly enlightening in many subjects that he discusses.
Akala is an amazing writer - I was hooked from the very start.
This book was amazing. It's a mix of autobiography and political history and I learnt so much about it. It should be a must read, as it's truly enlightening in many subjects that he discusses.
Akala is an amazing writer - I was hooked from the very start.
willhalfpenny's review against another edition
5.0
Akala is an excellent scholar, and this book was great education. It would go on my reading list for understanding the UK.
dom_jones's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this - very accessible breakdown on a black experience of the UK, with wider cultural patterns noted.
Powerful mix of the biography and non-fiction.
I think at times, the author leans too far onto accessibility, with snappy shutdowns to arguments, a particular example being in the final chapter where he puts down great replacement theory as white inflexibility to get on with other cultures.
I think while this put down has some merit, great replacement theory is something far more complex than white concerns about racial coexistence - often more nativist cultural supremacism is at play here, along with supposed fear of erasure.
Also the author’s thesis seems a little vague - while it’s obviously anti racist, I find his points about the black middle class a little confusing at times- I think the author is advocating for more social mobility, but seems to view a black middle class aspirational? While it’s obvious that in the short term, an expanding black middle class is a good thing, the author seems to forgo the working class a bit in this respect; it’s not realistic for all members of the working class to ascend to the wealthy middle class he’s situated in, and he doesn’t advocate for loads of solutions for them.
Overall though, a great book, ahead of its time in quite a few ways.
Powerful mix of the biography and non-fiction.
I think at times, the author leans too far onto accessibility, with snappy shutdowns to arguments, a particular example being in the final chapter where he puts down great replacement theory as white inflexibility to get on with other cultures.
I think while this put down has some merit, great replacement theory is something far more complex than white concerns about racial coexistence - often more nativist cultural supremacism is at play here, along with supposed fear of erasure.
Also the author’s thesis seems a little vague - while it’s obviously anti racist, I find his points about the black middle class a little confusing at times- I think the author is advocating for more social mobility, but seems to view a black middle class aspirational? While it’s obvious that in the short term, an expanding black middle class is a good thing, the author seems to forgo the working class a bit in this respect; it’s not realistic for all members of the working class to ascend to the wealthy middle class he’s situated in, and he doesn’t advocate for loads of solutions for them.
Overall though, a great book, ahead of its time in quite a few ways.