Natives

Introduction

In the summer of 2020, two major events shook the world: the Covid-19 pandemic and the global Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the killing of George Floyd. While the death of Floyd occurred in America, protests erupted across the globe, including in Britain. These demonstrations highlighted that racism and the legacy of slavery and imperialism are not just American issues, but British ones as well.

In his book "Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire," musician, activist and commentator Akala tackles the challenge of understanding Britain's complex history of racism, imperialism, and how it continues to shape society today. He does this by sharing his personal experiences growing up as a mixed-race person in Britain, tracing his family history from the Caribbean to London, and exploring how race and class intersect in modern British society.

Through Akala's story and analysis, readers gain insight into:

• The experiences of Caribbean immigrants who came to Britain in the 1950s
• Growing up mixed-race in a working-class London neighborhood
• How policing and the justice system treat Black youth in Britain
• The distorted narratives around British history and imperialism
• How anti-Black racism manifests differently across the world

Akala's book provides a deeply personal yet rigorously researched examination of British identity, racism, and the lasting impacts of empire. By sharing his own story alongside historical context, he offers readers a nuanced understanding of these complex issues.

Caribbean Arrivals Face a Racist Backlash

In the aftermath of World War II, Britain found itself in dire straits - physically damaged, financially drained, and facing a severe labor shortage as it tried to rebuild. To address this, the British government passed the 1948 British Nationality Act, which gave citizens of British colonies the right to settle in Britain. This led to an influx of Caribbean immigrants, including Akala's grandparents, who came to help rebuild what they saw as their "mother country."

However, the reality that greeted Caribbean arrivals was far from the welcoming embrace they expected. Instead, they faced widespread racism and hostility from white Britons who viewed them as outsiders and competitors for jobs and resources.

Several factors contributed to this racist backlash:

1. Misconceptions about race and class: Many Caribbean immigrants were shocked to see poor white people in Britain. In the colonies, whiteness was associated with power and wealth. The sight of white street sweepers and laborers challenged their preconceptions.

2. Lack of public education: The British government failed to educate the public about the rights of colonial subjects or explain how revenues from the colonies supported Britain's new welfare state. This allowed misconceptions and resentment to fester.

3. Entrenched racism: Racist attitudes were deeply ingrained in British society. Akala's grandfather recalls being called racial slurs within a week of arriving. Akala's mother faced ostracism from her family and abuse from neighbors for being with a Black man.

4. Economic anxieties: Working-class white Britons, themselves struggling with poverty, saw the new arrivals as competition for scarce jobs and resources rather than fellow citizens.

The hostility faced by Caribbean immigrants took both verbal and physical forms. Akala's father, like many Black men of his generation, bore scars from violent encounters with racist police and far-right groups. This climate of racism and violence formed the backdrop of Akala's childhood and shaped his understanding of what it meant to be Black in Britain.

Early Lessons in British Racism

Akala was born in 1983 to a Black British-Caribbean father and a white English-Scottish mother. From a very young age, he began to learn harsh lessons about race in British society.

At just five years old, Akala experienced his first incident of racial abuse when a classmate called him the N-word. This moment was pivotal, as it forced Akala to confront not only the racism directed at him but also the complexities of his own mixed-race identity. When telling his mother about the incident, he suddenly realized she was white - a fact he hadn't consciously registered before.

This early experience highlighted several key aspects of race in Britain:

1. The pervasiveness of racist language and attitudes, even among young children
2. The complexities of mixed-race identity and how it's perceived
3. The emotional burden placed on mixed-race children navigating a racist society

Akala also began to notice wider examples of racism in British culture. He vividly recalls seeing a photo of Jamaican-born soccer player John Barnes kicking away a banana skin thrown at him by racist fans. While Akala knew this image was significant, he didn't yet fully understand its implications.

These early experiences taught Akala that in Britain, regardless of one's actual heritage or appearance, being perceived as Black meant being treated as an outsider and subjected to racism. This realization would shape his understanding of British society and his place within it as he grew older.

Policing and Racial Profiling

As Akala entered his teenage years, he encountered another stark reality of being Black in Britain - discriminatory policing practices. At age 13, Akala experienced his first police stop and search, an event that would become a regular occurrence over the following years.

Key aspects of this policing approach include:

1. Targeting of Black youth: Akala and his Black friends were routinely stopped and searched, while their white friends were left alone.

2. Violation of rights: These searches often occurred without an adult present and without informing the youth of their rights - both illegal practices.

3. Justification through crime narratives: Aggressive policing of Black youth is often justified by claims of rampant knife crime, despite evidence showing this is not a race-specific issue.

4. Ignoring socioeconomic factors: Areas with high violent crime rates, regardless of racial demographics, tend to be poor and working-class. Yet policing focuses on race rather than addressing underlying economic issues.

This approach to policing has several harmful effects:

1. Erosion of trust: It creates distrust between Black communities and law enforcement.
2. Criminalization of youth: It treats Black teenagers as inherently suspicious and criminal.
3. Perpetuation of stereotypes: It reinforces harmful stereotypes about Black criminality.
4. Ineffective crime prevention: By focusing on race rather than root causes, it fails to effectively address crime issues.

Akala's experiences highlight how racial profiling in policing serves to reinforce systemic racism and treat Black Britons as second-class citizens from a young age. This early criminalization has long-lasting impacts on individuals and communities.

Black Success and White Normativity

Akala explores how Black success in various fields, particularly sports, is often treated as an anomaly requiring special explanation, while white success is seen as the norm. This reveals deep-seated assumptions about race and capability in British society.

He provides two contrasting examples:

1. Ajax Amsterdam's soccer success: When the Dutch club Ajax dominated European soccer in the 1990s, their success was attributed to superior organization and coaching.

2. Black sprinters' success: When discussing the dominance of Black athletes in sprint events, a BBC panel sought genetic explanations rooted in the history of slavery.

This disparity in explanations highlights several issues:

1. Double standards: White success is explained through skill and effort, while Black success is attributed to genetic factors.

2. Pseudoscience: Genetic theories about Black athletic ability lack scientific basis and echo racist ideologies.

3. Normalization of white superiority: The search for special explanations for Black success implies that white dominance is the expected norm.

4. Overlooking systemic factors: Focus on genetic explanations ignores social, economic, and cultural factors that contribute to success in various fields.

Akala argues that this tendency to see white success as normal and Black success as aberrant extends beyond sports. It reflects broader societal attitudes that continue to view whiteness as the default and Blackness as Other.

This mindset has real-world consequences:

1. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Black capabilities.
2. It downplays the achievements and hard work of Black individuals.
3. It obscures systemic barriers that Black people often overcome to achieve success.
4. It reinforces a worldview where white dominance is seen as natural and justified.

By highlighting these double standards, Akala challenges readers to examine their own assumptions about race and success, and to consider how these attitudes contribute to ongoing racial inequalities in British society.

Myths of British Abolitionism

Akala tackles one of the central myths of British national identity - the idea that Britain led the world in abolishing slavery. This narrative, often used to downplay Britain's role in the slave trade, doesn't align with historical facts.

Key points about Britain's role in abolition:

1. Not the first: Denmark abolished slavery in 1792, and revolutionary France followed in 1794 - both before Britain's 1807 Slave Trade Act.

2. Military opposition: Britain initially opposed abolition in French colonies, sending troops to reinstate slavery in Haiti (then Saint-Domingue).

3. Continued involvement: Even after banning slavery, Britain continued to trade with and invest in slave-owning societies like the American South, Cuba, and Brazil.

4. Financial compensation: British slave owners received a massive government bailout as compensation for freeing enslaved people.

This more complex history reveals several important truths:

1. Britain's abolition was not as morally clear-cut as often portrayed.
2. Economic interests played a significant role in Britain's approach to slavery.
3. The narrative of British moral leadership on abolition obscures a more complicated reality.

Akala argues that this misleading narrative serves several purposes:

1. It bolsters a positive national self-image.
2. It minimizes Britain's culpability in the slave trade.
3. It positions Britain as morally superior to other nations.
4. It discourages a full reckoning with the legacy of slavery and colonialism.

By challenging this myth, Akala invites readers to reconsider Britain's role in the history of slavery and its aftermath. He emphasizes the importance of confronting uncomfortable historical truths rather than relying on sanitized national narratives.

Conflicting Historical Narratives

Akala explores how official historical narratives in Britain often conflict with the lived experiences and collective memories of Black Britons. As the demographics of Britain change and more Black voices enter public discourse, these conflicting narratives are increasingly coming to the forefront.

He provides two examples of how official narratives diverge from Black British perspectives:

1. Nelson Mandela: While Mandela was hailed as a hero upon his death in 2013, Akala points out that the British government had previously labeled him a terrorist and opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa.

2. Fidel Castro: When Castro died in 2016, he was widely condemned as a dictator. However, many Black Britons remember Castro's role in fighting apartheid in South Africa and supporting African liberation movements.

These examples highlight several important points:

1. Selective memory: Official narratives often gloss over or rewrite uncomfortable aspects of history.

2. Changing perspectives: How historical figures are viewed can shift dramatically over time.

3. Diverse experiences: Black Britons often have different perspectives on historical events and figures due to their community's experiences.

4. Global connections: The experiences of Black people in Britain are often connected to global events and movements.

Akala argues that these conflicting narratives have significant implications:

1. They reveal ongoing tensions in how Britain sees its past and present role in the world.

2. They highlight the importance of diverse voices in shaping historical understanding.

3. They challenge simplistic good/bad dichotomies in how historical figures are portrayed.

4. They demonstrate the need for a more nuanced and inclusive approach to teaching and discussing history.

As Britain becomes more diverse, Akala suggests that these conflicting narratives will likely lead to increased debate and potentially a re-evaluation of British history. This process, while potentially uncomfortable, is necessary for a more honest and inclusive understanding of the nation's past and its impact on the present.

Global Variations in Anti-Black Racism

Akala explores how anti-Black racism manifests differently across the world, using his own experiences as a mixed-race person to illustrate these variations. This section highlights the complex and often contradictory nature of racial categorizations globally.

Key observations:

1. Britain: Akala is seen as simply "Black," regardless of his mixed heritage.

2. South Africa: He would be classified as "colored," a distinct category from "Black."

3. Algeria: He passes as a brown-skinned local, avoiding the severe discrimination faced by darker-skinned individuals.

4. United States: The "one-drop rule" historically classified anyone with any Black ancestry as Black.

5. Australia: Some light-skinned Aboriginal people identify as "blackfellas" due to their experiences of discrimination.

These variations reveal several important points:

1. Contextual nature of race: Racial categories are not universal but depend on local historical and social contexts.

2. Arbitrary distinctions: The lines between racial categories are often arbitrary and inconsistent.

3. Impact of colonialism: Many of these racial categorizations are legacies of colonial systems.

4. Complexity of identity: How individuals identify racially can be influenced by both personal choice and societal impositions.

Akala delves into specific historical contexts to explain these variations:

1. Caribbean color hierarchy: Lighter-skinned Black people often held higher social status.

2. U.S. racial binary: The "one-drop rule" created a stark Black/white divide.

3. Australian "Stolen Generations": Government policies of forced assimilation led to light-skinned Aboriginal people who identify strongly with their Indigenous heritage.

This global perspective on racism offers several insights:

1. It challenges the idea of race as a fixed, biological category.
2. It reveals how racism adapts to different social and historical contexts.
3. It highlights the enduring impact of colonial systems on modern racial categorizations.
4. It demonstrates the importance of understanding local contexts when discussing race and racism.

By exploring these variations, Akala encourages readers to think more critically about racial categories and to recognize the complex, often contradictory ways that racism operates around the world.

The Ongoing Impact of Empire

Throughout the book, Akala emphasizes how the legacy of the British Empire continues to shape modern British society, particularly in terms of race relations and national identity. This theme ties together many of the book's key ideas.

Key aspects of empire's ongoing impact:

1. Immigration patterns: The presence of Caribbean and South Asian communities in Britain is a direct result of colonial ties.

2. Racial hierarchies: Ideas about racial superiority and inferiority that justified empire continue to influence societal attitudes.

3. Economic inequalities: The wealth generated through imperial exploitation contributes to ongoing global and domestic disparities.

4. Cultural attitudes: Notions of British exceptionalism and superiority often stem from the imperial past.

5. Political relationships: Britain's foreign policy and international relations are still influenced by its former imperial role.

Akala argues that understanding this imperial legacy is crucial for several reasons:

1. It provides context for current racial tensions and inequalities.
2. It challenges sanitized narratives about British history.
3. It helps explain the experiences and perspectives of Black Britons and other ethnic minorities.
4. It encourages a more honest reckoning with Britain's past and its global role.

The author suggests that as Britain becomes more diverse and more voices from former colonized peoples enter public discourse, the nation will need to confront its imperial past more directly. This process may be uncomfortable but is necessary for building a more equitable and inclusive society.

Akala's personal story, woven throughout the book, serves as a microcosm of this larger narrative. His family history - from the Caribbean to London - and his experiences growing up mixed-race in Britain illustrate how the echoes of empire continue to resonate in individual lives.

Conclusion: Towards a New Understanding

In "Natives," Akala presents a challenging but necessary examination of race, class, and empire in British society. By interweaving personal experiences with historical analysis, he offers readers a nuanced and often uncomfortable look at how Britain's past continues to shape its present.

Key takeaways from the book include:

1. The persistent impact of racism on Black Britons, from everyday interactions to systemic inequalities.

2. The need to critically examine official historical narratives and consider diverse perspectives.

3. The global nature of anti-Black racism and its varying manifestations across different contexts.

4. The ongoing influence of Britain's imperial past on its current social, economic, and political realities.

5. The importance of understanding the intersections of race and class in British society.

Akala's work invites readers to:

1. Reflect on their own assumptions and biases about race and British identity.
2. Consider how historical narratives shape current attitudes and policies.
3. Recognize the diverse experiences and perspectives within British society.
4. Engage with the complex legacies of empire and how they continue to affect modern Britain.

As Britain continues to grapple with issues of race, identity, and its place in a post-imperial world, books like "Natives" provide valuable insights and provoke necessary conversations. Akala's blend of personal narrative and scholarly analysis offers a unique and powerful contribution to these ongoing debates.

While the book doesn't provide easy answers, it equips readers with a deeper understanding of the historical contexts and ongoing challenges surrounding race in Britain. This understanding is crucial for anyone seeking to engage meaningfully with these issues and work towards a more equitable society.

Ultimately, "Natives" challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about Britain's past and present, while also offering hope that through honest examination and inclusive dialogue, a more just and equitable future is possible.