I’ve had Akala’s Natives on my bookshelf for a year - but never opened it.
Yes, you’re right.
This is another blog post by a white, straight, middle-class, lefty, English male talking about how they’re going to ‘read more, listen more, and do better’ in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests. I’m not going to apologise for that.
It has been very easy for me to look at myself and think “I’m OK. I’m not racist. I’m one of the good guys”.
But this isn’t really enough, is it?
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I have had the benefit of a university education, have visited a few countries, and will freely tell people that I consider ignorance and a lack of education and interaction is what leads to racism. That if everyone broadened their understanding of others, then the world would be a fairer place for everyone.
And yet, I contradict myself by (consciously or sub-consciously) only engaging with culture from a narrow demographic range.
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As I sit here at the table, typing this post, I can see my record collection from the corner of my eye. As a fan of hip-hop and jazz, there’s a lot of black musicians in it. They may even make up the majority.
But, with very few exceptions, those artists are male, young, and only come from a handful of urban centres in the UK and USA.
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Looking at the bookshelf, the authors are overwhelmingly white, mostly male, from the UK and USA (again), writing in the last 100 years.
We have hundreds of books in the house, but after a quick glance, I can only identify four black authors:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (two books: read one and loved it; not started the other);
Lemn Sisay (who I’ve seen talk, but not actually read the two books of his I own);
Anthony Joseph (I have one book, that I started reading in 2011, but stopped halfway through);
Akala (one book, Natives, that hasn’t been looked at since it was bought a year ago).
That’s it.
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Don’t get me wrong - there is nothing inherently wrong with only listening to one kind of music or reading one kind of book.
If that’s what you love, then by all means, stick to it.
What I’m calling out is my own hypocrisy: Looking at the black musicians in my record collection, or the handful of well-known black authors on my bookshelf and thinking they speak for everyone who doesn’t look like me.
I can’t champion knowledge and understanding of different people if I only choose to look at the world through a small cultural window. I have, however, been guilty of doing so.
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Why have I written all this? What does it matter what I think, let alone write about this?
Because I now recognise that even though I would never consciously think ill of someone on the basis of the colour of their skin, I haven’t done as much as I could to address my preconceptions or the systemic racism that will have influenced my behaviour.
By sharing my thoughts, I may be helping you come to the same realisation. This is just one small positive contribution I can make.
More importantly though, by sharing my thoughts, I’m also opening them up for criticism. This is uncomfortable for me, but part of the process of expanding my understanding.
If I’ve got any of this wrong, or I’m missing something I could be doing better, please tell me via the Contact page on this website.
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Finally, there are a lot of posts like mine doing the rounds on the internet at the moment. Almost all of them finish with a promise to take action, which can be immediately countered with “Go on then. What action are you taking?”
For me, step one is to finally read Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala. Then, I might be in a better position to decide on step two.
I’ll keep you updated.