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This Is Not America
***Chosen as a non-fiction highlight of 2023 in The Times, Guardian, Observer, Irish Times and New Statesman***
Across the West, racial injustice has become one of the most divisive issues of our age. Debate abounds around racism, identity, diversity, immigration and colonial history, and, in the rush to address injustice, Britain has followed the lead of the world's dominant power: America. We judge ourselves by America's standards, absorb its arguments and follow its agenda. But what if we're looking in the wrong place?
In This is Not America, Tomiwa Owolade argues that too much of the conversation around race in Britain is viewed through the prism of American ideas that don't reflect the history, challenges and achievements of increasingly diverse black populations at home. If we want to build a long-lasting and more effective anti-racist agenda - one that truly values black British communities - we must acknowledge that crucial differences exist between Britain and America; that we are talking about distinct communities and cultures, distinguished by language, history, class, religion and national origin.
Humane, empirical and passionate, this book promises to start a new conversation about race and, vitally, shed light on black British life today.
Across the West, racial injustice has become one of the most divisive issues of our age. Debate abounds around racism, identity, diversity, immigration and colonial history, and, in the rush to address injustice, Britain has followed the lead of the world's dominant power: America. We judge ourselves by America's standards, absorb its arguments and follow its agenda. But what if we're looking in the wrong place?
In This is Not America, Tomiwa Owolade argues that too much of the conversation around race in Britain is viewed through the prism of American ideas that don't reflect the history, challenges and achievements of increasingly diverse black populations at home. If we want to build a long-lasting and more effective anti-racist agenda - one that truly values black British communities - we must acknowledge that crucial differences exist between Britain and America; that we are talking about distinct communities and cultures, distinguished by language, history, class, religion and national origin.
Humane, empirical and passionate, this book promises to start a new conversation about race and, vitally, shed light on black British life today.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2023
27 people are currently reading
721 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
September 4, 2023
This is a great book about what it means to be black and British. The author rightly points out that too much of our discussion about race takes place downstream of American assumptions which just don't make sense in the UK. The British experience is also hugely informed by social class, a paradigm entirely missing from the American discourse about racial justice. This is a nuanced, well-informed and beautifully written account of Black British experience. I am enriched by having read it.
June 25, 2023
This Is Not America is about how the racial politics of America has become the distorting lens through which we discuss race in Britain, and why that needs to change. I believe this book is going to shift the terms of the debate in this country. I was lucky enough to read a proof copy and I can tell you it’s truly eye-opening and elegantly written.
July 31, 2023
There's a lot to like in this book. Owolade's prose glides forward in a way that makes the actual act of reading very genial. I also learned a lot. If the book does nothing else, it could help a lot of Britains, including me, fill in the manifold gaps in our knowledge of Black British history.
That said as an argument it's somewhat frustrating. At heart Owolade seems to be a cultural historian and critic. His proofs of his propositions are often that another writer said them. Hence, for example, we allegedly know that African Americans have more in common with other Americans than with other people of African descent, because this is how James Baldwin felt when he moved to Paris. The significance of the observer in this case, does not change that this is essentially anecdotal experience. There might well be a less erudite but ultimately more solid book to be written that leans more on social science research.
Perhaps, more frustratingly is that the book's central thesis is arguably misrepresented. Reading the introduction, the dust jacket, any of the publicity, or even the title, you'd think that this is a book about how assumptions derived from American experiences are a misleading guide to Black British life.
However, this idea is at most sporadically discussed. Instead, Owolade's focus is on critiquing many of the most popular writers about race in the UK for their ideas about Black Britains. He believes their focus on a singular black identity in conflict with a white majority British society is reductive, homogenising, unduly pessimistic and ultimately underplays the Britishness of Black Britains. Which is an interesting argument but Owolade never convincingly links it to his framing about Britain differing from the US. Indeed, rather than contrasting the two countries, he often seems to want to make the same points about both. Indeed, he often moves between discussing Brits and Americans without acknowledging he's doing so. Thus, the book's framing is at odds with its actual argument and, at least for me, that dissonance became distracting.
That said as an argument it's somewhat frustrating. At heart Owolade seems to be a cultural historian and critic. His proofs of his propositions are often that another writer said them. Hence, for example, we allegedly know that African Americans have more in common with other Americans than with other people of African descent, because this is how James Baldwin felt when he moved to Paris. The significance of the observer in this case, does not change that this is essentially anecdotal experience. There might well be a less erudite but ultimately more solid book to be written that leans more on social science research.
Perhaps, more frustratingly is that the book's central thesis is arguably misrepresented. Reading the introduction, the dust jacket, any of the publicity, or even the title, you'd think that this is a book about how assumptions derived from American experiences are a misleading guide to Black British life.
However, this idea is at most sporadically discussed. Instead, Owolade's focus is on critiquing many of the most popular writers about race in the UK for their ideas about Black Britains. He believes their focus on a singular black identity in conflict with a white majority British society is reductive, homogenising, unduly pessimistic and ultimately underplays the Britishness of Black Britains. Which is an interesting argument but Owolade never convincingly links it to his framing about Britain differing from the US. Indeed, rather than contrasting the two countries, he often seems to want to make the same points about both. Indeed, he often moves between discussing Brits and Americans without acknowledging he's doing so. Thus, the book's framing is at odds with its actual argument and, at least for me, that dissonance became distracting.
November 16, 2025
OK I am very conflicted with this book because the guy Jeffrey who came into school got flamed by the author. and apparently his ideas are right wing, and I think that there is a conversation to be had about me being left wing, but apparently agreeing with right wing ideas about race..... I am conflicted, I need to look into this further.
But I like the idea of looking at people through their context, further than the colour of their skin but from the country that they live in and what maybe secondary culture they identify with ( outside of being British).
I do agree with the idea that living in London I am looked at through the lens of being an immigrant. Too many people have asked me "How long have you lived in the UK?" or "Where is your accent from?" as the first question. Look yes I know that I am a first gen immigrant, but also if I did go back to Russia after not being there for 6 years I would be the most British thing to go there since the Beetles sang "Back to the USSR". The only reason why I have this identity of being Russian IS because I am in Britain. If I was in Russia I would just be a person. idk.
But I like the idea of looking at people through their context, further than the colour of their skin but from the country that they live in and what maybe secondary culture they identify with ( outside of being British).
I do agree with the idea that living in London I am looked at through the lens of being an immigrant. Too many people have asked me "How long have you lived in the UK?" or "Where is your accent from?" as the first question. Look yes I know that I am a first gen immigrant, but also if I did go back to Russia after not being there for 6 years I would be the most British thing to go there since the Beetles sang "Back to the USSR". The only reason why I have this identity of being Russian IS because I am in Britain. If I was in Russia I would just be a person. idk.
August 15, 2023
a libéral argument I think
Owolade’s writing is somewhat reminiscent of a university essay, but is pleasingly clear such that I understood all his arguments and reading the book was very enjoyable
Owolade’s writing is somewhat reminiscent of a university essay, but is pleasingly clear such that I understood all his arguments and reading the book was very enjoyable
June 4, 2024
Well-researched, clear and insightful. Very balanced argument. I get why they call this bloke the king of nuance xx
Read
December 6, 2024In the long hot summer of 2020, as the Coronavirus pathogen continued its seemingly endless march across the world, a second wave, no less infectious, followed in its wake. In May during a routine police stop in Minneapolis, local man George Floyd was arrested and held down by four police who arrived at the scene. One officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 agonising seconds, filmed for posterity on Social Media. Floyd, a black man, repeatedly gasped "I cant breathe" as he lay dying, a phrase which was quickly adopted by Black Lives Matter as a slogan of powerlessness in the face of systemic racism and police brutality, drawing uncomfortable echoes with the Rodney King case back in the 90's. His death became a focal point for marches and rallies across the US which then spread to other countries, including the UK. Later that fateful summer, statues of the slave trader Edward Colston were torn down and thrown into Bristol harbour, while Winston Churchill's statue outside Westminster was defaced with the word 'Racist.' What had begun as a tragic but unfortunately all-too-routine example of police brutality in the States had morphed into a worldwide reckoning with the legacy of White Supremacy, Imperialism, indeed the very foundations of the West itself.
Black Britons such as Times journalist Tomiwa Owolade have always taken America as their cultural touchstone. From Music to Fashion and Film to Sport, America sets the tone, Black Americans provide the role models and the Brits usually follow in their footsteps. Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Nina Simone, James Baldwin and a hundred others have shaped the lives of Black Britons to an almost unimaginable extent. The average black teenager growing up in Hackney or Brixton has always been more likely to have a poster of Mike Tyson or Michael Jordan on their bedroom wall than any analogous British figure. Understandably this has affected the way that people see themselves. Who can have watched the March on Washington and not felt inspired, or heard Malcolm X speak and not felt his righteous fury? The Civil Rights movement, which drew on the hideous history of Slavery, Jim Crow and Segregation evoked parallels for many Black Britons with their own experiences of racism, police harassment and discrimination. Didn't Britain too, have its history of Slavery and Empire? Wasn't it about time those particular chickens came home to roost?
The problem, according to Owolade, is that this lens, or Cultural Cringe, as he calls it, is often unhelpful when looking at racial politics in another country, even the UK. America and Britain are very different countries, whose similarities of language and, to some extent, politics, belie enormous differences. America is much bigger, much richer, much more powerful, far more violent and arguably far more racist than Britain, or at least its racism is more often violent. It is a Republic, not a Constitutional Monarchy, a nation of 330 million souls, of which 13% identify as BIPOC, as opposed to just 4% in Britain, whose population is less than a fifth of the size. African Americans today are the descendants of ancestors who were enslaved and brought to the US by force, while African or Asian people in Britain came almost entirely of their own choice, including the so-called 'Windrush Generation', who arrived from the Caribbean to rebuild the Motherland after WWII. Britain, Owolade argues, has more in common in terms of its racial politics with other European Nations like France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, whose Empires once colonised the world and where former Colonial Subjects later saw fit to return and claim citizenship. As the old phrase went "We are here because you were there."
The danger of viewing Black British experience through an American racial justice lens is that we end up importing and fighting America's Culture Wars instead of our own. In recent years the furore over Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality have exploded on College Campuses in America. The so-called 'Woke Wars' like so many other cultural products, has spread to the UK on a slight delay. What may apply to Racism in the USA does not necessarily translate to the UK, where, for cultural reasons to do with Immigration, Black Britons have often tended to be self made and business-minded, many of whom have made their way into the upper echelons of Society in the UK. From politicians like Kwasi Kwarteng or Kemi Badenoch to Vogue editor Edward Enninful to Film stars like Idris Elba and musicians like Stormzy, black Britons have risen to the top in almost every major British Industry. Class, not Race, has ever been the British obsession, and the success of so many people of colour in rising to the top is evidence, in Owolade's view, that, whatever residual racism may remain, society is pretty well integrated already, and there is little need for American style positive discrimination. Black Britons, he argues, have more in common with other Britons than they do with African Americans. We are British, he argues, before we are Black.
Engaging, deliberately provocative and with enough punches landed on the pretensions of all to outrage and delight in equal measure, this book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the USA, the UK, Racial Politics or Academia.
Black Britons such as Times journalist Tomiwa Owolade have always taken America as their cultural touchstone. From Music to Fashion and Film to Sport, America sets the tone, Black Americans provide the role models and the Brits usually follow in their footsteps. Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Nina Simone, James Baldwin and a hundred others have shaped the lives of Black Britons to an almost unimaginable extent. The average black teenager growing up in Hackney or Brixton has always been more likely to have a poster of Mike Tyson or Michael Jordan on their bedroom wall than any analogous British figure. Understandably this has affected the way that people see themselves. Who can have watched the March on Washington and not felt inspired, or heard Malcolm X speak and not felt his righteous fury? The Civil Rights movement, which drew on the hideous history of Slavery, Jim Crow and Segregation evoked parallels for many Black Britons with their own experiences of racism, police harassment and discrimination. Didn't Britain too, have its history of Slavery and Empire? Wasn't it about time those particular chickens came home to roost?
The problem, according to Owolade, is that this lens, or Cultural Cringe, as he calls it, is often unhelpful when looking at racial politics in another country, even the UK. America and Britain are very different countries, whose similarities of language and, to some extent, politics, belie enormous differences. America is much bigger, much richer, much more powerful, far more violent and arguably far more racist than Britain, or at least its racism is more often violent. It is a Republic, not a Constitutional Monarchy, a nation of 330 million souls, of which 13% identify as BIPOC, as opposed to just 4% in Britain, whose population is less than a fifth of the size. African Americans today are the descendants of ancestors who were enslaved and brought to the US by force, while African or Asian people in Britain came almost entirely of their own choice, including the so-called 'Windrush Generation', who arrived from the Caribbean to rebuild the Motherland after WWII. Britain, Owolade argues, has more in common in terms of its racial politics with other European Nations like France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, whose Empires once colonised the world and where former Colonial Subjects later saw fit to return and claim citizenship. As the old phrase went "We are here because you were there."
The danger of viewing Black British experience through an American racial justice lens is that we end up importing and fighting America's Culture Wars instead of our own. In recent years the furore over Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality have exploded on College Campuses in America. The so-called 'Woke Wars' like so many other cultural products, has spread to the UK on a slight delay. What may apply to Racism in the USA does not necessarily translate to the UK, where, for cultural reasons to do with Immigration, Black Britons have often tended to be self made and business-minded, many of whom have made their way into the upper echelons of Society in the UK. From politicians like Kwasi Kwarteng or Kemi Badenoch to Vogue editor Edward Enninful to Film stars like Idris Elba and musicians like Stormzy, black Britons have risen to the top in almost every major British Industry. Class, not Race, has ever been the British obsession, and the success of so many people of colour in rising to the top is evidence, in Owolade's view, that, whatever residual racism may remain, society is pretty well integrated already, and there is little need for American style positive discrimination. Black Britons, he argues, have more in common with other Britons than they do with African Americans. We are British, he argues, before we are Black.
Engaging, deliberately provocative and with enough punches landed on the pretensions of all to outrage and delight in equal measure, this book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the USA, the UK, Racial Politics or Academia.
September 2, 2023
This book is a comparative overview of racial politics in the UK in relation America, with a specific focus on Black Britishness. It starts by covering the US context, and explaining how the experiences of Black Americans cannot be generalized to other national contexts. Topics such as American integrationism and double-consciousness are central here. In turn, the other half of the book talks about the British context and dives deeper into the various distinctions between race, ethnicity, migration and mixed-race. Here, Owolade succeeds in doing justice to the complexities of the Black British experience and its many intersections. He provides critical statements, many of which I will return to. Overall, thus, a brilliant book that provides new insights into the conversation following the BLM movement and associated socio-political events. However, I felt that Owolade could have put more emphasis on some intellectual concepts such as identity, nationhood and belonging.
November 4, 2024
I really liked how this book pushes back against looking at British Black experiences through an American lens. Black Britishness isn't shaped by a shared history of slavery like in America, but by different waves of immigration from various countries, continents and time periods, resulting in distinctly varied experiences across generations and origins. A Jamaican Brit's experience is very different from a Ghanaian Brit's experience, and even within these communities, first-gen immigrants navigate different realities than their fourth-gen counterparts.
This book is especially interesting to be read alongside Isabel Wilkerson's "Caste" and it's fascinating to see such different takes on race and identity. He shows a very British perspective that feels worlds apart from the American narrative (both very valid). I appreciate how he talks about how diverse Black British communities have shaped and enriched British identity, and what it means to be British.
He mentions right at the start that he won't get into issues of immigration and class in Britain, the main form of discrimination in this country. While I get why he made this choice, it definitely leaves room for more stories to be told. But overall I'm giving this book five stars as a good introduction to race-related literature and a celebration of diversity in Britain, where for some, they are both Black and British.
This book is especially interesting to be read alongside Isabel Wilkerson's "Caste" and it's fascinating to see such different takes on race and identity. He shows a very British perspective that feels worlds apart from the American narrative (both very valid). I appreciate how he talks about how diverse Black British communities have shaped and enriched British identity, and what it means to be British.
He mentions right at the start that he won't get into issues of immigration and class in Britain, the main form of discrimination in this country. While I get why he made this choice, it definitely leaves room for more stories to be told. But overall I'm giving this book five stars as a good introduction to race-related literature and a celebration of diversity in Britain, where for some, they are both Black and British.
November 27, 2023
Optimistic, lively, even-handed and thoughtful. A great resource on the question of developing a positive response to British race relations that’s now been highlighted so much, it looks like an art project.
Never boring, yet full of fascinating detail, this is an example of how modern, popular non-fiction can help a casual reader to gain a footing in an important subject without overwhelming them with how little they know. I would have liked some additional thoughts from a British Asian perspective, but the book very much delivered what it promised on the tin.
Never boring, yet full of fascinating detail, this is an example of how modern, popular non-fiction can help a casual reader to gain a footing in an important subject without overwhelming them with how little they know. I would have liked some additional thoughts from a British Asian perspective, but the book very much delivered what it promised on the tin.
August 9, 2024
A well written and thoughtful literature/cultural review on other books and media that tackle race and/or identity in the UK. It didn’t say anything revolutionary or new but thought the angle and approach was well executed. Felt it was weak on bringing home its own alternative point to everything being critiques beyond it needing to be ‘collaborative and specific’. Still a worthwhile read.
June 22, 2024
“This is not a book meant for Black people. It exists solely to titillate racist White audiences.” - Kehinde Andrews
If I could give it negative stars I would.
If I could give it negative stars I would.
Read
March 31, 2025Some interesting points made, and on the whole I'm glad to have read it, though some of his arguments seemed a bit selective.
December 9, 2025
Would not recommend audio b
April 20, 2024
This was an in depth examination of racism in Britain and it's pitfalls of looking at racism through an American lens: I was pleasantly surprised how complimentary this was of Britain and really enjoyed the second half of the book. Really thoroughly researched - but I did find particularly in the first half I was struck a bit with information overload at first!
June 25, 2023
A book that poses powerful questions about Britain’s relationship with race.
Owolade states, as the book nears its close, that ‘Racial thinking is limited by the fact that racial categories don't capture the full range of humanity.’ As part of this, to fully understand what it means to be black and British, we must consider so much more about the individual person.
Owolade states, as the book nears its close, that ‘Racial thinking is limited by the fact that racial categories don't capture the full range of humanity.’ As part of this, to fully understand what it means to be black and British, we must consider so much more about the individual person.
May 28, 2024
Echoes of James Baldwin in terms of blunt sincerity, but whereas Baldwin was free to address topics with a certain level of complexity, Owolade is limited to simpler statements. To be clear, that is not a condemnation: it might seem absurd that he needs to spend so much time on "Have you considered that maybe not all black people are the same?" but I think the public discussion makes it clear that he truly does.
Overall, I feel like it's a clear analysis of American exceptionalism, but a less compelling analysis of ways to get beyond that point.
Overall, I feel like it's a clear analysis of American exceptionalism, but a less compelling analysis of ways to get beyond that point.
February 19, 2024
A strong critique of the Black British adherence to the Black American ideal of Woke progression. Tomiwa Owolade offers his readers a fuzzy landscape, rich in its orthodoxy and detailed in journalistic description.
The book takes an anti-woke undercurrent from the outset and makes no bones of this, but to hold on to this position, he moves the race debate to a class discourse in which those who fall below the social acceptance of Society deserve their outcomes.
Once allowed to find their feet, these abandoned masses are offered the glorious assertion of assimilating or perishing into a class-based hierarchical system that never made space for this mass beyond as labour and removing the basis of group solidarity to enforce change.
While reading this work, the main concern is Tomiwa's refusal to engage with the class-based hierarchical system with no form of understanding or critical eye for the foundation of British imperial rule of over a millennia. He seems to fall into the right-wing grift trap of the content creators who refuse to see the system surrounding them, only to view the outcomes with the hostility of the cultural war they are against.
The book takes an anti-woke undercurrent from the outset and makes no bones of this, but to hold on to this position, he moves the race debate to a class discourse in which those who fall below the social acceptance of Society deserve their outcomes.
Once allowed to find their feet, these abandoned masses are offered the glorious assertion of assimilating or perishing into a class-based hierarchical system that never made space for this mass beyond as labour and removing the basis of group solidarity to enforce change.
While reading this work, the main concern is Tomiwa's refusal to engage with the class-based hierarchical system with no form of understanding or critical eye for the foundation of British imperial rule of over a millennia. He seems to fall into the right-wing grift trap of the content creators who refuse to see the system surrounding them, only to view the outcomes with the hostility of the cultural war they are against.
October 17, 2024
My wife is of Nigerian descent. When we found out we were expecting a little boy I seized upon several “racism in Britain” books to try and understand what my little lad would go through. The first thing I noticed (like a lot of our popular culture) is that the narratives around race in Britain are reflective of the narratives in America. We don’t talk about Harold Moody, but we do all know Martin Luthur King Jr.
Enter this brilliant book which purposefully tells a British story rather than an American one. Its super interesting and by far the most accessible book of the genre I’ve found so far. Really recommend it.
As an aside, my little boy came out ginger, which no one saw coming. I am not aware of any books on what its like to be British and ginger which is proving to be a bit of a nightmare.
Enter this brilliant book which purposefully tells a British story rather than an American one. Its super interesting and by far the most accessible book of the genre I’ve found so far. Really recommend it.
As an aside, my little boy came out ginger, which no one saw coming. I am not aware of any books on what its like to be British and ginger which is proving to be a bit of a nightmare.
March 17, 2024
Hypocritical and over simplifies where convenient the ideas of race and nationality. Spends most of the book chastising and criticizing without diving into and barely acknowledging the racism that built the British empire. This is still looking at being Black in Britain through an American lens.
January 10, 2024
I came to This Is Not America through a combination of two source. The first was from researching for a TV drama script about a Commonwealth fighter pilot's story during WWII, and recognising that such stories are effectively, though not always intentionally, suppressed. The second was hearing on the radio about a school in Northamptonshire sending sixth-form pupils to Minneapolis to visit the scene where George Floyd was murdered.
Bit-by-bit I started to get the impression that the history of Black Britain has been supplanted by that of Black America. I don't reckon that's an unusual observation, and it's at the core of Tomiwa Owolade's book.
This Is Not America is a plea for Black British culture, history and well, its style to resist the lure of America's all-consuming social and cultural hegemony, or what some call American Cultural Imperialism.
In-the-past we depended on the British Left to fight off that siren-call of Americanism, but that no longer exists; the British Left embraced Americanism at the turn-of-the-century, with its Federal government, corporations, media and its Black history based on slavery & segregation. In capitulating to Americanism, the very essence of Black Britain is diluted, and diminished. I'm a white male and even I've noticed that; the story of Black history that seems to predominate is that of Black America. Yet the history of Black Britain, indeed The Commonwealth, is a huge, epic, wondrous story of triumph-over-adversity. That story needs to be told again and again and the contribution of Caribbean Black culture and history and West & East African Black culture and history (which are distinctly different, as Owolade points-out) and the compelling patriotism of Black Britains is one that should be celebrated and revered. And if you read this book, that might be the impression that is left with you too.
There are two sections to the book; This Is America which is a wonderful review of American Black history, culture, and the key drivers in Black anti-racist activism. The second section is This Is Britain. Both confront the issues of racism but also provide some context and explanation as to how we are where we are. I learned of aspects of history on both sides of the Atlantic I'd never been introduced-to, and many of books that Owolade references will appear as future reviews in coming years.
Throughout Owolade is courteous in his criticisms, other than to Patrick Vernon and Angelina Osbourne, the authors of 100 Great Black Britons published in 2020. He lays into Vernon & Osbourne with some venom over the course of four pages, and returns for a few more bites later on.
Why though 3 stars (which means 'I liked it' using the Goodreads classification)?
Well, that's because of the Introduction, running from pages 1 to 36. It's bloody brilliant, a superbly-crafted work of magnitude and breadth that...well it sort of dominates the two sections that follow. The Introduction would get an easy 5-stars on its own, and it did rather ensure that everything after it is a bit flat(ter). Not too much, but just a bit. The thing is though, Owolade sets out his stall in the Introduction, and does rather too good a job of it. Those 35 pages are worthwhile buying the book for alone, and as mentioned, they'll be few readers who wouldn't get something from the following two sections.
For me though, the blazing finale/encore/showstopper came right at the start of the book, and pages 38 onwards never quite matched it.
Bit-by-bit I started to get the impression that the history of Black Britain has been supplanted by that of Black America. I don't reckon that's an unusual observation, and it's at the core of Tomiwa Owolade's book.
This Is Not America is a plea for Black British culture, history and well, its style to resist the lure of America's all-consuming social and cultural hegemony, or what some call American Cultural Imperialism.
In-the-past we depended on the British Left to fight off that siren-call of Americanism, but that no longer exists; the British Left embraced Americanism at the turn-of-the-century, with its Federal government, corporations, media and its Black history based on slavery & segregation. In capitulating to Americanism, the very essence of Black Britain is diluted, and diminished. I'm a white male and even I've noticed that; the story of Black history that seems to predominate is that of Black America. Yet the history of Black Britain, indeed The Commonwealth, is a huge, epic, wondrous story of triumph-over-adversity. That story needs to be told again and again and the contribution of Caribbean Black culture and history and West & East African Black culture and history (which are distinctly different, as Owolade points-out) and the compelling patriotism of Black Britains is one that should be celebrated and revered. And if you read this book, that might be the impression that is left with you too.
There are two sections to the book; This Is America which is a wonderful review of American Black history, culture, and the key drivers in Black anti-racist activism. The second section is This Is Britain. Both confront the issues of racism but also provide some context and explanation as to how we are where we are. I learned of aspects of history on both sides of the Atlantic I'd never been introduced-to, and many of books that Owolade references will appear as future reviews in coming years.
Throughout Owolade is courteous in his criticisms, other than to Patrick Vernon and Angelina Osbourne, the authors of 100 Great Black Britons published in 2020. He lays into Vernon & Osbourne with some venom over the course of four pages, and returns for a few more bites later on.
Why though 3 stars (which means 'I liked it' using the Goodreads classification)?
Well, that's because of the Introduction, running from pages 1 to 36. It's bloody brilliant, a superbly-crafted work of magnitude and breadth that...well it sort of dominates the two sections that follow. The Introduction would get an easy 5-stars on its own, and it did rather ensure that everything after it is a bit flat(ter). Not too much, but just a bit. The thing is though, Owolade sets out his stall in the Introduction, and does rather too good a job of it. Those 35 pages are worthwhile buying the book for alone, and as mentioned, they'll be few readers who wouldn't get something from the following two sections.
For me though, the blazing finale/encore/showstopper came right at the start of the book, and pages 38 onwards never quite matched it.
November 24, 2024
Nuance is the word of the book. Probably my favorite book on race politics since the 1619 Project. It acknowledges the racial progress and harmony in the UK without delving into the simplistic "we can all get along" naivety.
I particularly enjoy the first section. The Euro-American root of pan-africanism is an eye-opening argument, and I find myself questioning some of my views on race politics. While not the main argument, the book's description of multilingualism is the best and most accurate I have ever read as a bilingual person.
The second section is still very insightful. It explains the social nature of "race" in eloquent and personal ways. It portrays an optimistic story of British integration but still gives a practical guide to further racial equality. The latter part is very welcomed as some of these books tend to be light on real-life problems and solutions. I do think the middle part of the section goes a bit too hard on critisizing some contrary views. The rebuttals are interesting, but once it gets repeated too many times, it feels unnecessarily defensive.
I do wonder what the author thinks of the utility of an umbrella label such as "black British." As the book correctly points out, the term lack nuances and humanity. In effect, grouping different people together is mirroring the practice of the reactionary right. But would the label still have utility? There is power in numbers. When the reactionary right targets all black British altogether, is there no advantage in binding together under one label, however imperfect and muddled it may be?
I particularly enjoy the first section. The Euro-American root of pan-africanism is an eye-opening argument, and I find myself questioning some of my views on race politics. While not the main argument, the book's description of multilingualism is the best and most accurate I have ever read as a bilingual person.
The second section is still very insightful. It explains the social nature of "race" in eloquent and personal ways. It portrays an optimistic story of British integration but still gives a practical guide to further racial equality. The latter part is very welcomed as some of these books tend to be light on real-life problems and solutions. I do think the middle part of the section goes a bit too hard on critisizing some contrary views. The rebuttals are interesting, but once it gets repeated too many times, it feels unnecessarily defensive.
I do wonder what the author thinks of the utility of an umbrella label such as "black British." As the book correctly points out, the term lack nuances and humanity. In effect, grouping different people together is mirroring the practice of the reactionary right. But would the label still have utility? There is power in numbers. When the reactionary right targets all black British altogether, is there no advantage in binding together under one label, however imperfect and muddled it may be?
August 16, 2023
I found this to be a very thought provoking, well argued and convincing book. Tomiwa Owolade takes us through why the experience of being Black and British is very different from being a Black American. One very obvious fact is that people who are Black and British form only about 4% of the UK population, and are relatively recent arrivals, whereas people classed as Black American form about 12-13% of the US population and the majority of them have roots in America going back hundreds of years as a result of the slave trade . The book is full of stories about people - examples relating to the lines of argument he takes up in each chapter, referencing many of the instances of discrimination and racism we have seen in the newspapers over the years. He points out that the experience of being black in the British context varies a great deal from community to community (and origin - Africa, Caribbean) and is as much affected by poverty and class as by skin colour. He does not deny that there is much to be done to eradicate racist behaviour and consequent mistrust between communities particularly with regard to policing, however I would say that all in all it is optimistic in tone.
November 12, 2025
The subtitle to this book is 'Why we need a British conversation about race'. I think this is an excellent, timely and brave book (published in 2023). Also really well written, very clear and readable in a field which can be quite 'dense' for readers. I'm retired now, but before I retired I gave feedback to my organisation's EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) team, and made the point that the ideas that were animating them and that they were acting on, were almost exclusively 'cut and pasted' from the States, with little consideration or adjustment from a British perspective. This is a central issue that this book explores. Also, and importantly, Tomiwa argues the case for our ability to 'recognize each other as individuals endowed with inherent moral worth' and the value of 'seeing people first as individuals, not as representatives of their race'. This is a positive and well-argued foil to some of the more negative aspects of trends in discussions on race that have been in evidence over the last ten years.
October 25, 2023
’When something significant happens in America, it reverberates across the rest of the world, and many of us interpret what is specific to America as true of our own country.’
After listening to Owolade on the Triggernometry podcast, I just had to read his book. And what a hugely significant book it is, given the racial tensions in the UK right now, particularly after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. A fascinating read from start to finish, with a core sentiment that I agree with - we Brits should not view our issues, history and culture through an American lens. It is unhelpful, and in fact rather dangerous.
After listening to Owolade on the Triggernometry podcast, I just had to read his book. And what a hugely significant book it is, given the racial tensions in the UK right now, particularly after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. A fascinating read from start to finish, with a core sentiment that I agree with - we Brits should not view our issues, history and culture through an American lens. It is unhelpful, and in fact rather dangerous.
December 2, 2025
Highly recommend! Well written and engaging. Points that challenged my points of view but were convincing and reasonable. Agree that the whole book doesn’t really deal with the point in the title but still a really good mediation on British racial identity.
Only questions I have and that I would discuss with the author if I had the chance is his conception of what intersectionality is differs from mine. Essentially what the whole book is about is how identity is defined by so many more things than just race, which is what I consider to be intersectionality. The author defines intersectionality is only about being oppressed by different parts of your identity.
Only questions I have and that I would discuss with the author if I had the chance is his conception of what intersectionality is differs from mine. Essentially what the whole book is about is how identity is defined by so many more things than just race, which is what I consider to be intersectionality. The author defines intersectionality is only about being oppressed by different parts of your identity.
July 27, 2024
Loved this, very quick and easy read, so very well written. Provided a different, often not spoken about perspective of Black Britain, emphasizing how much we inherit Americas issues as are own. Whilst there were many points I did not agree with, it didnt deduce from the overall messaging and tone of the book. I was reading this whilst stuck in border control at JFK, and was left with many confused, and somewhat angry stares, so I would not recommend that, but all around good book, looking forward to seeing Tomiwa's journey as an author, as I love his style of writing.
February 1, 2025
Really interesting book on the need to view race through a British lens in Britain, instead of conflating black life and culture with black American life and culture. Some really interesting discussions, including of mixed race people, MLE, Empire, differences of British-Caribbean’s and British-Africans, and “woke Powellism” (arguments so left wing about race that they actually echo those of the far right). Would definitely recommend - very easy read too, so great for beginners as well as those well read on the topic!
June 19, 2025
This is Not America was a thought provoking read & a well researched counterweight to American Cultural Hegemony.
I have friends in education who mentioned more black Americans than Britons in their classes during Black History Month. Owalade articulates why I find that sad better than I could have.
I would especially recommend this book to anyone who is British or resident in Britain & fits under the label of 'BAME' but finds it awfully clunky & patronising.
It helps that this happens to be a very easy read too!
I have friends in education who mentioned more black Americans than Britons in their classes during Black History Month. Owalade articulates why I find that sad better than I could have.
I would especially recommend this book to anyone who is British or resident in Britain & fits under the label of 'BAME' but finds it awfully clunky & patronising.
It helps that this happens to be a very easy read too!
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