What's it like to live in a country that doesn't trust you and doesn't want you unless you win an Olympic gold medal or a national baking competition?
Rating: 5/5
I talked briefly about The Good Immigrant in last weeks posts, recommending it for a rounded view of life as an immigrant (or as a descendent of one). A collection edited by Nikesh Shukla, the essays explore how being an immigrant or, to put it bluntly, non-white person in Britain impacts various aspects of life.
At points I felt indignant - I didn't want to believe this was the country I lived in. But it is. I can’t deny the lived experiences of these authors just because I want to. The indignancy faded, turning instead to disappointment. Progress takes time, but I remain disappointed with the speed at which some people are changing their mindsets. I have every hope for my generation being better than the one before, and every belief that the generation after will continue to improve, but to read of the difficulties faced by immigrants and immigrant descendents opens up new empathies.
This book is like a window into the various ways people deal with different forms of racism. For such a heavy topic though, it’s really funny. The range of voices mean it’s something new every time you come back to it - they mean you don’t have to understand, relate to, or even like every voice present, because you can just move to the next essay. There was definitely some that took me longer to get through because I didn’t find them as interesting, but generally I’d feel accomplished every time I picked it up because I could read an essay in half an hour and have learnt something, or seen a new perspective.
My two favourite essays are ‘Flags’ by Coco Khan, and ‘Cutting Through (On Black Barbershops and Masculinity)’ by Inua Ellams. Flags, as you might expect, explores the implications of the Union Jack - a topic I’d never thought of past it being a unification of the flags of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It was also about sex, and I love books that are open about sex so that was a big win. Seeing something as simple as a flag from a different perspective emphasises the fact that behaviours people may not question hold a lot of weight and that the implications of something small can be disproportionately large. Knowing the fallout of the confederate flag in America, it’s kind of surprising to realise I’d never thought of the implications of the Union Jack. Ellams essay, meanwhile, starts by recounting his experiences as a Nigerian immigrant in Dublin and London, and the way barbers reacted to his African hair. The essay is an enlightening view of Africa which reveals the vastly different cultures many people seem to forget exist across the continent.
This book really is something everybody should read. It’s funny and enlightening and whilst I want to say that I’m sure everyone could find something to relate to within its pages, I think the point is that you don’t have to be able to relate to somebody in order to empathise with their experiences. Everyone could benefit from reading this book.
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