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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
The Good Immigrant by Salena Godden, Nish Kumar, Riz Ahmed, Darren Chetty, Nikesh Shukla, Varaidzo, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Wei Ming Kam, Sarah Sahim, Himesh Patel, Coco Khan, Daniel York Loh, Vinay Patel, Miss L., Bim Adewunmi, Inua Ellams, Chimene Suleyman, Musa Okwonga, Vera Chok, Sabrina Mahfouz, Kieran Yates
18 reviews
foxonabook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I'm finally catching up with copying over all of my handwritten reviews 😅 This is a book that I regularly find myself thinking of because of how much it resonated with me, and it's become one of the books that I will recommend to everyone (and it actually is on my work team's recommended reading list! 😄).
The Good Immigrant is a collection of essays written by authors from an immigrant or ethnic minority background. The essays address issues of race, immigration, and 'otherness', and it is a pivotal read for anyone looking to understand the personal and universal experiences of those in the UK (and elsewhere) who are regularly 'othered'. The UK (and other nations) is often portrayed to be this multicultural melting pot when modern-day politics and studies show that this isn't exactly the case. Black, Asian, and ethnic minority groups are much more likely to live in poverty and are disproportionately more affected by health disparities (something that the pandemic made perfectly clear). There's also this unspoken agreement that immigrants and those of ethnic minority descent are either welcomed or shunned depending on their success. All anyone has to do is look at how athletes or cultural personalities are honoured or disparaged based on their results -they're either UK-born or 'so-and-so of such-and-such ethnic descent'. As the daughter of immigrants (my parents migrated to Belgium before I was born) and as an immigrant myself (having immigrated to the UK in my early 20s) I saw a lot of my family's experiences in this book.
Shukla's essay <i>'Namaste'</i> where he talks about being splintered into personas perfectly described my experience, having curated a different version of myself depending on the setting and company. This often left me wondering 'who really am I?'.
Then there's Miss L's essay wherein she shares a piece of dialogue many of us from an ethnic minority background are familiar with... the dreaded <i>'Where are you from?'</i> question. This often comes up because we don't look Belgian/British/white enough. In case you're wondering, my answer always starts with 'It's a long and complicated story'.
And I cannot forget about Chimene Suleyman's essay <i>'My Name is My Name'</i> about the Anglicisation of 'foreign' or 'difficult' to pronounce names -much like my own name. Fun fact, depending on who I am talking to -Arabic speakers vs non-Arabic speakers- I go by two different pronunciations of my name (even though the Arabic pronunciation isn't that hard), something my parents started doing when they enrolled me in daycare because they were worried people would otherwise struggle (can you imagine the identity crises my younger self endured?). And, the sad thing is, I know that my family isn't alone in adapting our names for the comfort of others.
This book shone a light on so many of my own experiences as a first-generation Belgian and an immigrant to the UK, and it educated me on many more experiences that my euro-centric features and lighter skin have shielded me from. It was an emotional, thought-provoking, and enlightening journey.
If there's only one book I could recommend to people for the rest of my life, this would probably be it.
The Good Immigrant is a collection of essays written by authors from an immigrant or ethnic minority background. The essays address issues of race, immigration, and 'otherness', and it is a pivotal read for anyone looking to understand the personal and universal experiences of those in the UK (and elsewhere) who are regularly 'othered'. The UK (and other nations) is often portrayed to be this multicultural melting pot when modern-day politics and studies show that this isn't exactly the case. Black, Asian, and ethnic minority groups are much more likely to live in poverty and are disproportionately more affected by health disparities (something that the pandemic made perfectly clear). There's also this unspoken agreement that immigrants and those of ethnic minority descent are either welcomed or shunned depending on their success. All anyone has to do is look at how athletes or cultural personalities are honoured or disparaged based on their results -they're either UK-born or 'so-and-so of such-and-such ethnic descent'. As the daughter of immigrants (my parents migrated to Belgium before I was born) and as an immigrant myself (having immigrated to the UK in my early 20s) I saw a lot of my family's experiences in this book.
Shukla's essay <i>'Namaste'</i> where he talks about being splintered into personas perfectly described my experience, having curated a different version of myself depending on the setting and company. This often left me wondering 'who really am I?'.
Then there's Miss L's essay wherein she shares a piece of dialogue many of us from an ethnic minority background are familiar with... the dreaded <i>'Where are you from?'</i> question. This often comes up because we don't look Belgian/British/white enough. In case you're wondering, my answer always starts with 'It's a long and complicated story'.
And I cannot forget about Chimene Suleyman's essay <i>'My Name is My Name'</i> about the Anglicisation of 'foreign' or 'difficult' to pronounce names -much like my own name. Fun fact, depending on who I am talking to -Arabic speakers vs non-Arabic speakers- I go by two different pronunciations of my name (even though the Arabic pronunciation isn't that hard), something my parents started doing when they enrolled me in daycare because they were worried people would otherwise struggle (can you imagine the identity crises my younger self endured?). And, the sad thing is, I know that my family isn't alone in adapting our names for the comfort of others.
This book shone a light on so many of my own experiences as a first-generation Belgian and an immigrant to the UK, and it educated me on many more experiences that my euro-centric features and lighter skin have shielded me from. It was an emotional, thought-provoking, and enlightening journey.
If there's only one book I could recommend to people for the rest of my life, this would probably be it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Colonisation
Moderate: Cultural appropriation
megha_tron_14's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Makes you think about how racism is a bigger part of your life than you think
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
thecolourblue's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Ahhh... I really wanted to like this book more than I did. But there were real ups-and-downs in my enjoyment of the essays and odd sudden total shifts between the more humerous pieces and the more serious ones lessoned my enjoyment.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
angelbabe_cj's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
jackdllb's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Very educational and shows we have a long way to go until equality is achieved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
pollyflorence's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
marina_t's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This is such an interesting and informative book that covers so many important topics. I listened to the audiobook version and each essay being read by the author really added to the experience. This book gave me so much to think about I found it best just focusing on one chapter at a time. I am already thinking about reading/listening again in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
havelock's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
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