Book Review - The Good Immigrant: A Collection Of 21 Essays

Recently (as of the time of writing this review) Sainsbury’s released their Christmas advert for the 2020 holiday season. The advert features a family talking about how excited they are to celebrate Christmas together. It is nice, and positive, and basically what you would expect from a typical Christmas advert. The advert has however received complaints from some viewers because the family featured are black. While the complaints have been the minority they have been loud with people saying they plan to boycott the supermarket chain as a result. I know this is a book review but I want to let that sink in for a moment. There are people who saw an advert featuring a black family celebrating Christmas and are offended enough to boycott a supermarket chain. A boycott because of an advert.

This reaction shows in Britain White (and if you want to get more specific straight white male) is still considered the default and for lack of a better term “normal”. Anything else is considered “other”, and a break from what is normal. This Britain, where a Christmas advert can be considered offensive is the Britain in which The Good Immigrant was written in 2016, and is the one we are still living in in 2020. The Good Immigrant is a collection of 21 essays from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnicity writers from across literature, and the media curated by editor Nikesh Shukla. It is an anthology focused on the experiences of immigrants, the children and grandchildren of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers living in the UK. These essays are a mixed bag as could be expected, and differ in tone, subject matter, and focus but a few shared themes, and subjects emerge over the course of the collection.

One of the themes that comes up multiple times throughout the different essays is a deep frustration and anger, but also the inability to express that anger. Anger and particularly public displays of anger are unfortunately still the privilege of White men specifically. When a white man is angry he is called passionate, when a white woman is angry she is called hysterical. When a Black person is angry they are called a thug. When an Asian person is angry they are called a terrorist. These are but a few examples of the way words are used to defend the anger of white men as righteous and justified, and to dismiss and invalidate anger from anyone else. Throughout these essays to be a “Good immigrant” seems to be synonymous with being quiet and taking the everyday indignities, biases, and micro-aggressions without complaint such as the question which is called out several times in these essays as a particular source of frustration: “No, where are you really from?” This book offers the relatively rare opportunity for the writers to complain, to express anger, to pour their completely justifiable frustrations onto the page. However it is important to note that this is not a purely angry book just shouting at the reader from start to finish. Each writer brings their own voice and their own writing styles. Many are funny, and each is unique, and as a white reader they are eye opening and reveal life experiences I have not considered, or at least have not considered as much as I should.

Alongside this anger, and frustration there is an undercurrent running throughout the book about the struggles with assimilation. To be a “good immigrant” seems to not only be quiet, and non-threatening, but to fit in with the mainstream as much as possible. White British people are generally held as the judges of culture and behaviour in this country. As said above we are considered “normal” anything outside of that from non-anglicised names, to cultural practices is categorized as “other” as a result. To live outside of the norm, to be in the box labelled other means living under an extra level of scrutiny that never goes away, an extra burden for these writers to prove that they belong in Britain, even when they were born here. Reading these essays a commonality comes through of the push and pull between wanting to belong with wanting to retain your own cultural identity. It is a balancing act all of the writers have had to hone and perfect as a matter of survival in a society which does not always react well to difference. It is a balancing act which I as a reader have never really had to learn, and an added burden that I have never had to carry.

Given the rise of the stereotype of the “immigrant” as somehow being a lazy benefit sponge while simultaneously taking seemingly all the jobs this book serves an important purpose. It casts a light on the sneakier form of racism that has become more prevalent in modern day Britain. While open and proud racists still exist racism has evolved to fit in a Britain that will proudly tout its commitment to multiculturalism while quietly enforcing conformity. This quieter racism is names being mispronounced. It is words being misunderstood and misused. It is actors being pigeonholed into certain parts because of their skin colour. It is not seeing yourself represented in the media as anything other than a stereotype or token best friend. It is small comments and digs here and there which multiply over time like racist compound interest.  This book gives valuable insight as to what it is like to live in a country that does not seem to want you living in it, and always considers you an outsider even if you were born in it.

To conclude this piece these essays are at times funny, at times sad, and at times anger inducing at the state of the world the writers have to live in. We all live in our own lives created by our own experiences, and perspectives. The racism and anger seen in reaction to Sainsbury’s advert shows this. Some people have such a lack of understanding for what exists outside of their worldview that what they have categorised as “other” entering their lives is cause for anger, and a boycott. Ultimately what this book offers is an opportunity to step out of our lives and into the lives of these 21 writers. It is a chance to gain some much needed perspective and awareness. Given the reception the advert received this chance to see how the “other” lives is one we need more of right now, and while it will not magically fix everything on its own, this is a book more people should absolutely read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Immigrant-Nikesh-Shukla/dp/178352295X