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A Black Boy at Eton (11)
'The story [Onyeama] had to tell was so gripping and shocking, it wouldn't let me go . . . A remarkably well-written memoir.' Bernardine Evaristo, from the Introduction
Dillibe was the second black boy to study at Eton - joining in 1965 - and the first to complete his education there. Written at just 21, this is a deeply personal, revelatory account of the racism he endured during his time as a student at the prestigious institution. He tells in vivid detail of his own background as the son of a Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, of his arrival at the school, of the curriculum, of his reception by other boys (and masters), and of his punishments. He tells, too, of the cruel racial prejudice and his reactions to it, and of the alienation and stereotyping he faced at such a young age. A Black Boy at Eton is a searing, ground-breaking book displaying the deep psychological effects of colonialism and racism.
A title in the Black Britain: Writing Back series - selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.
Dillibe was the second black boy to study at Eton - joining in 1965 - and the first to complete his education there. Written at just 21, this is a deeply personal, revelatory account of the racism he endured during his time as a student at the prestigious institution. He tells in vivid detail of his own background as the son of a Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, of his arrival at the school, of the curriculum, of his reception by other boys (and masters), and of his punishments. He tells, too, of the cruel racial prejudice and his reactions to it, and of the alienation and stereotyping he faced at such a young age. A Black Boy at Eton is a searing, ground-breaking book displaying the deep psychological effects of colonialism and racism.
A title in the Black Britain: Writing Back series - selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.
272 pages, Paperback
Published July 18, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 8, 2022
I tread this book in two days, an indication of just how "readable" it was, for me at least. The writer gives some interesting insights as to what being a pupil at Eton was like in the 1960s. His recounting of the racial abuse he received makes depressing reading. I could sense the hatred coming from his tormentors. I try and read memoirs from people who have lived very different lives to myself as I believe this makes the reader more empathetic. Onyeama's memoir made me reflect on the prejudice that black people faced in the 1960s in the UK which, sadly, still persists in some people. A recommended read.
April 1, 2022
A Black Boy At Eton by Dillibe Onyeama was originally published in 1972. The headmaster tried to suppress publication and banned Onyeama from ever stepping foot in the college campus again.
This book was picked up by Bernadine Evaristo and republished as part of the Black Britain: Writing Back series (check it out, there's some incredible books in it!). I listened to the audio edition and it was an intense and thought provoking listen.
Dillibe Onyeama became the first Black person to finish their studies at Eton College in 1969. Eton College is a prestigious public school for boys famous for educating prime minister's and world leaders. Onyeama talks about his experience at Eton in this book and it was horrifying to listen to the racist bullying and discrimination he experienced at the hands of the other pupils and masters. Shocking and sickening. In particular because this is a school whose students often go on to hold a position of power within the UK.
Onyeama encountered so much racist discrimination at Eton it's hard to even know where to begin. The bullying from the students seemed relentless and nasty and resulted in Onyeama reacting violently towards them. It didn't seem to matter what he did, they would find a way to use it against him. The parts where he talked about knowing he wasn't liked, wasn't popular, made me feel really sad.
Then there was the racial bias from the masters. Expecting Onyeama to he good at sport, because "Africans are strong" and not surprised at any academic failure, assuming he was stupid because he was Black.
There are a lot of racial slurs included in the book, it hasn't been changed at all since it's original publication, but this makes it very hard to listen to. It really was a challenging book but I'm really glad to have experienced it.
A quote:
"The matter became a vicious circle. The more unpopular I became, the more the taunting grew, the more I struck out, the more they jeered. But I have to admit they usually used to get the better of me"
This book was picked up by Bernadine Evaristo and republished as part of the Black Britain: Writing Back series (check it out, there's some incredible books in it!). I listened to the audio edition and it was an intense and thought provoking listen.
Dillibe Onyeama became the first Black person to finish their studies at Eton College in 1969. Eton College is a prestigious public school for boys famous for educating prime minister's and world leaders. Onyeama talks about his experience at Eton in this book and it was horrifying to listen to the racist bullying and discrimination he experienced at the hands of the other pupils and masters. Shocking and sickening. In particular because this is a school whose students often go on to hold a position of power within the UK.
Onyeama encountered so much racist discrimination at Eton it's hard to even know where to begin. The bullying from the students seemed relentless and nasty and resulted in Onyeama reacting violently towards them. It didn't seem to matter what he did, they would find a way to use it against him. The parts where he talked about knowing he wasn't liked, wasn't popular, made me feel really sad.
Then there was the racial bias from the masters. Expecting Onyeama to he good at sport, because "Africans are strong" and not surprised at any academic failure, assuming he was stupid because he was Black.
There are a lot of racial slurs included in the book, it hasn't been changed at all since it's original publication, but this makes it very hard to listen to. It really was a challenging book but I'm really glad to have experienced it.
A quote:
"The matter became a vicious circle. The more unpopular I became, the more the taunting grew, the more I struck out, the more they jeered. But I have to admit they usually used to get the better of me"
April 23, 2025
I’d rate this book a 3.5. Although the story is obviously worth being told and the perspective being told right after the events is interesting, the timeline and writing is disorganized and a bit confusing at parts. He ends a lot of his thoughts in the middle of chapters by restating the same thing over and over. The book itself follows a topics based timeline rather than a linear one meaning he often drops important bits of information that he promises to address later and goes on to never fully address it.
Because of when this was written I do think that the racial abuse was downplayed. In certain parts of the book you can see a glimpse of how bad it really was despite the author brushing off incidents as him being violent. It’s an interesting read to learn about how Eton worked at the time.
I do appreciate that you can feel the authors blatant frustration on the way the world perceived him, because during other parts you can tell he’s been told a lot of what happened was due to his violence and not the out right provocation that occurred weekly.
Because of when this was written I do think that the racial abuse was downplayed. In certain parts of the book you can see a glimpse of how bad it really was despite the author brushing off incidents as him being violent. It’s an interesting read to learn about how Eton worked at the time.
I do appreciate that you can feel the authors blatant frustration on the way the world perceived him, because during other parts you can tell he’s been told a lot of what happened was due to his violence and not the out right provocation that occurred weekly.
July 30, 2024
truly harrowing and a difficult read at times - to write this memoir at 21 is both insane and incredible. this book gives a great insight into eton and its routines and behaviours and expectations and i know that this treatment of black people is still so prominent even in 2024 but it doesn’t make it any easier to read about. reading about a young black boy in such a horrific, disgusting and toxic space that 100% believes white people are superior was scary and i think onyeama captured this experience perfectly
July 23, 2022
1.5 ☆
Finished reading ... A Black Boy at Eton / Dillibe Onyeama ... 21 July 2022
With a new introduction by Bernadine Evaristo
Original title (1972): Nigger at Eton
Series: Black Britain: Writing Black
ISBN: 9780241993811 ... 246 pp.
This book is interesting in that it describes the workings of Eton and its traditions even as some of them, fags and fagging, senior students caning younger ones, were being abolished.
As a book about racism it is quite unsatisfactory from my perspective. It is written only a couple of years after the author left the school and still seems quite immature. In that it has been reissued 50 years after first publication, the author is still living and has not written any sort of reflection or addendum, can one assume that he still agrees now with his juvenile judgements back then?
There is no doubt that racism existed at Eton half a century ago. I'd be willing to wager it still exists now. What confuses the issue here is that the author was a pretty obnoxious student. By his own admission he was lazy, didn't study, became violent at any provocation and was basically pretty unlikeable. Even the first black student at Eton (the author being the second) didn't like him. So where does being treated badly because you're a not particularly nice person end and racism start?
How too to judge racism when the author sees life through a racist prism? Much to everyone's surprise he passed his O levels and was applauded. The author's take was the surprise and applause was because they didn't expect him "as a black African" to pass. Isn't it at least as likely that the surprise was because he never worked and always languished at the bottom of the class?
At another time a house master took him to a cricket match at Lords and gave him some spending money. Again, the take was this kindness was shown because he was black, not for the more plausible reason that a house master's duty is to look after the welfare of the students in his care and this event happened because the author had no parents in the UK, rarely saw them, and was not taken out on days off as other boys were.
I wanted to learn about racism from the experience of one who lived it but unfortunately I found the unpleasantness and prejudices of the author himself got in the way of that. It made the book quite tedious and a chore to finish.
Disappointing. Not recommended.
Finished reading ... A Black Boy at Eton / Dillibe Onyeama ... 21 July 2022
With a new introduction by Bernadine Evaristo
Original title (1972): Nigger at Eton
Series: Black Britain: Writing Black
ISBN: 9780241993811 ... 246 pp.
This book is interesting in that it describes the workings of Eton and its traditions even as some of them, fags and fagging, senior students caning younger ones, were being abolished.
As a book about racism it is quite unsatisfactory from my perspective. It is written only a couple of years after the author left the school and still seems quite immature. In that it has been reissued 50 years after first publication, the author is still living and has not written any sort of reflection or addendum, can one assume that he still agrees now with his juvenile judgements back then?
There is no doubt that racism existed at Eton half a century ago. I'd be willing to wager it still exists now. What confuses the issue here is that the author was a pretty obnoxious student. By his own admission he was lazy, didn't study, became violent at any provocation and was basically pretty unlikeable. Even the first black student at Eton (the author being the second) didn't like him. So where does being treated badly because you're a not particularly nice person end and racism start?
How too to judge racism when the author sees life through a racist prism? Much to everyone's surprise he passed his O levels and was applauded. The author's take was the surprise and applause was because they didn't expect him "as a black African" to pass. Isn't it at least as likely that the surprise was because he never worked and always languished at the bottom of the class?
At another time a house master took him to a cricket match at Lords and gave him some spending money. Again, the take was this kindness was shown because he was black, not for the more plausible reason that a house master's duty is to look after the welfare of the students in his care and this event happened because the author had no parents in the UK, rarely saw them, and was not taken out on days off as other boys were.
I wanted to learn about racism from the experience of one who lived it but unfortunately I found the unpleasantness and prejudices of the author himself got in the way of that. It made the book quite tedious and a chore to finish.
Disappointing. Not recommended.
May 24, 2022
I loved the insight about Eton and how it’s structures and hierarchies are bastions of privilege, and the perspective of an “outsider” but I did feel like he wrote this as a young man and the book could have benefitted from a postscript or a response from the author being much older, reacting or responding to his experience within and outside of the school.
April 11, 2024
This was an insightful account of a Black boys time at the prestigious Eton school. The racism and homophobia he faced from the other boys and school masters, as well as the surprisingly favourable allowances he received from the teachers due to colourism.
It's funny that they were all aware that colour prejudice was a thing and they didn't want to feed to the media that they were treating Onyeama because of his colour, so they often went over the top to avoid punishment because of this.... The irony.
The conversations on sexual experimentation within the school was interesting and not what I expected but it made me sad that Onyeama didn't get much of the experience of exploring his identity because of being Black. What made it worse was that everything he did seemed to come back to him doing it because he was 'black and homosexual'. So why was it okay for others to do?
I found it sad how Onyeama had went in having this sense of pride for who he was (being raised in quite a privileged position, with his dad being an Nigerian judge) to them be shocked by the blatant physical and verbal abuse he received at Eton, quite casually and randomly which I feel must have made it all the more harmful and unpredictable. One minute chatting quite well, the next having racial slurs shouted at you because you achieved something they didn't think you should be capable of, being a black boy.
This was an interesting memoir overall, shedding light on an experience I hadn't had much knowledge on prior to this.
The introduction by Bernadine Evaristo was also eye-opening, from the original title of the book and why this print decided to change it, to the way Onyeama looks down upon himself in a lot of cases, that I may not have picked up. It was an interesting preparatory piece.
Pick it up, give it a go & enjoy!
It's funny that they were all aware that colour prejudice was a thing and they didn't want to feed to the media that they were treating Onyeama because of his colour, so they often went over the top to avoid punishment because of this.... The irony.
The conversations on sexual experimentation within the school was interesting and not what I expected but it made me sad that Onyeama didn't get much of the experience of exploring his identity because of being Black. What made it worse was that everything he did seemed to come back to him doing it because he was 'black and homosexual'. So why was it okay for others to do?
I found it sad how Onyeama had went in having this sense of pride for who he was (being raised in quite a privileged position, with his dad being an Nigerian judge) to them be shocked by the blatant physical and verbal abuse he received at Eton, quite casually and randomly which I feel must have made it all the more harmful and unpredictable. One minute chatting quite well, the next having racial slurs shouted at you because you achieved something they didn't think you should be capable of, being a black boy.
This was an interesting memoir overall, shedding light on an experience I hadn't had much knowledge on prior to this.
The introduction by Bernadine Evaristo was also eye-opening, from the original title of the book and why this print decided to change it, to the way Onyeama looks down upon himself in a lot of cases, that I may not have picked up. It was an interesting preparatory piece.
Pick it up, give it a go & enjoy!
December 30, 2022
An interesting insight into British upper class society and its treatment of people of colour. This book provides a window into the attitudes of 1960s "high society", demonstrating how the insidious culture of colonialism permeated many of England's most hallowed and secretive institutions - namely, the infamous Eton college. Onyeama's experiences expose the toxicity of these clandestine and exclusive environments. Not withstanding, as the book observes, these are the very institutions which breed many of the U.K.'s political representatives and leading professionals today. Despite being several years old, the account of the culture still rings true - I think it should be studied in British schools.
Not a 5* only because of some repetition of content and issues with prose.
Not a 5* only because of some repetition of content and issues with prose.
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March 9, 2023Michael Kidson was not racist , whatever pithy comment he made . He was sought as a (Modern) Tutor even by African boys in the School .
His jokes about cooking pots drew laughter from them .
I doubt Michael McCrum was racist .
A hypnotising experiment by Onyeama at the School provoked controversy .
His Black Power salute from the stage was a dare
which some Boys put him up to do .
March 29, 2022
Interesting memoir and a fascinating insight into what it would have been like to be black in the mid 60s under a microscope in a very white setting. It also shows what a mental experience it is going to Eton and the privilege of it but also the torture, bullying and abuse that goes alongside that.
April 24, 2024
I'm not surprised by anything in this book. An account of racial prejudice, seclusion, and mistreatment, you name it. It's a beautiful insight into Dillibe's hard life at Eton. I see the amount of Black Boys now at Eton and hope they thrive in every way. Dillibe should be proud of his journey, even though he faced troubling times throughout. May he rest in perfect peace x
June 14, 2023
Alright, while it was interesting to have a glimpse at Eton's insane practises in the 60s and the abject racism Onyeama faced (shocking), the book didn't get the editing that it should have had and it's a shame. I feel it could have been much better structured to get to a better pace and flow.
October 7, 2023
I've found this book to be quite interesting - it's not brilliantly written, nor is it groundbreaking, but it's a solid account of outrageous racism and bullying described in a very matter-of-factly way.
February 25, 2023
Couldn’t get through it really. And really tried. I expected much more of it and for some reason I had a hard time feeling empathy for him.
August 13, 2023
Being super curious about boarding schools, this was, uh, educative. And harrowing.
July 18, 2024
Absolutely horrible what happened to him.
Struggled with the writing style and chapter layout. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
Struggled with the writing style and chapter layout. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
June 16, 2025
an incredibly powerful and gut wrenching memoir that i would highly recommend
December 2, 2023
Written at the age of twenty one, this memoir reflects on dillibe onyeama’s experience of being the first black student to graduate from eton, an infamously elitist school in england, detailing the horrific racial abuse he suffered from fellow students and teachers during his time there.
dillibe was registered to attend eton from birth by his father, a senior judge in nigeria, who had studied at oxford and wished for his children to receive the very best education on offer. despite initial reservations of being sent to ‘the white mans country,’ dillibe soon settled into the educational system & was excited to have been accepted into eton, shrugging off concerns that he would suffer popularity whilst in attendance there due to the colour of his skin. however, within weeks of walking through those doors he was faced with a barrage of vile racial slurs, dehumanising taunts & ignorant prejudice remarks against his culture & family.
during his time at eton, dillibe is never once allowed the freedom of settling in alongside his peers as a regular schoolboy. due to the colour of his skin, he is expected to excel at sports and not perform well academically - but then when he does well in his studies, he is singled out by others for ‘overcoming the intellectual limitations’ that are placed upon him due to his appearance, or even being accused of cheating or malpractice. he finds himself constantly battling against colour prejudice, always second guessing kindness for something more sinister & can anyone blame him or those who are faced with the same treatment on a daily basis?
dillibe endlessly fought against the prejudice he faced, at first with violence, and then through his writing. the latter led him to publish this extraordinary memoir, the publication of which actually resulted in him being banned from stepping foot on campus by the headmaster (a ban only lifted in recent years ???!) - an attempt at silencing someone who had too powerful a voice for them to contain.
dillibe was registered to attend eton from birth by his father, a senior judge in nigeria, who had studied at oxford and wished for his children to receive the very best education on offer. despite initial reservations of being sent to ‘the white mans country,’ dillibe soon settled into the educational system & was excited to have been accepted into eton, shrugging off concerns that he would suffer popularity whilst in attendance there due to the colour of his skin. however, within weeks of walking through those doors he was faced with a barrage of vile racial slurs, dehumanising taunts & ignorant prejudice remarks against his culture & family.
during his time at eton, dillibe is never once allowed the freedom of settling in alongside his peers as a regular schoolboy. due to the colour of his skin, he is expected to excel at sports and not perform well academically - but then when he does well in his studies, he is singled out by others for ‘overcoming the intellectual limitations’ that are placed upon him due to his appearance, or even being accused of cheating or malpractice. he finds himself constantly battling against colour prejudice, always second guessing kindness for something more sinister & can anyone blame him or those who are faced with the same treatment on a daily basis?
dillibe endlessly fought against the prejudice he faced, at first with violence, and then through his writing. the latter led him to publish this extraordinary memoir, the publication of which actually resulted in him being banned from stepping foot on campus by the headmaster (a ban only lifted in recent years ???!) - an attempt at silencing someone who had too powerful a voice for them to contain.
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