Book: Who Are We? How Identity Politics Took Over the World by Gary Younge

Another random find on the ‘Smart Thinking’ shelf of the Library of Birmingham (or LOB, as absolutely nobody refers to it outside the person who came up with it).

Gary Younge is a familiar name to me on Twitter (as everyone still calls it outside the person who created the rebrand).

First I learn the author was born in Stevenage, not far from where I come from, Bedford. The next thing I learn is this is a book highlighting contradictions.

Here we go.

94% of Black Californias voted for Obama but 55% voted against gay marriage.

And yet Black churches were the focal point for both efforts.

About Blackness.

• Anyone with a drop of black is black.

• Obama was bought up by his white mum but was deemed black.

• Black woman cannot give birth to a white child

• A white woman can give birth to a black child

Then there is the classic stat about how the number of black men in American prisons is hugely out of proportion with the population. I never remember the number and the author has it as this from 2000:

• Black men = 6% of population

• 50% of prison inmates

Here in the UK, the prejudices of immigration officers who do everything they can to seemingly keep poor people out but their racism means they go wrong. When arriving in the country, they can ask you how much money you have, like credit cards don’t exist.

However, how can a non-white Canadian is likely to be questioned and yet earn far more than a white South African, who is unlikely to get asked anything?

Surprised to hear the well-regarded Clare Short, as Secretary of State, refused Zimbabwe’s request for aid to buy back land occupied through colonialism on the basis that she was part of a new, young, diverse government that had nothing to do with colonial interests.

It’s interesting to learn how people identify themselves. We see this regularly come up in ONS surveys. I say I’m Indian first, British last, English never. This has certainly changed over the decades.

The very religious tend to refer to their belief first.

Back in the USA, perversely Muslims are much wealthier than in the UK. They are less marginalised and the author makes a point that likely they went there through choice, perhaps for education. In the UK they more than likely had no choice. I don’t understand why this is.

After a Danish publication published some cartoons of the prophet causing inevitable upset worldwide, many Muslims died in protests but no Danes did. Editors in Jordan & Yemen who republished like much of Europe in solidarity went to prison and newspapers were shut down by some States.

The author states a few years before they turned down similar cartoons with Jesus.

On language, we learn how it is a controlling mechanism rather than something that needs preserving. Most of France didn't speak French when the country came into being. Ditto Italy.

The best idea I have from reading Who Are We? is that someone who doesn't understand what it's like to be a minority then suddenly becomes one - a bit like a job swap. It brings new meaning to the phrase ‘ walk a mile in someone else shoes’.

Clearly, the author is well travelled, read and educated as this is another educational book I’d recommend to anyone who is looking to change the world. Because, first, we need to understand the world.