Who are We - and Should it Matter in the 21st Century?

by Gary Younge

'We are more alike than we are unalike. But the way we are unalike matters. To be male in Saudi Arabia, Jewish in Israel or white in Europe confers certain powers and privileges that those with other identities do not have. In other words identity can represent a material fact in itself'. Gary Younge demonstrates, in his urgent and brilliantly illuminating new book, that how we define ourselves affects every part of our from violence on the streets to international terrorism; from changes in our laws to whom we elect; and, from our personal safety to military occupations. Moving between fascinating memoir and searing analysis, from beauty contests in Ireland to the personal views of Tiger Woods, from the author's own terrifying student days in Paris to the truth behind the Danish cartoons controversy, Gary Younge makes surprising and enlightening connections and a devastating critique of the way our society really works.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Psychology, Race, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2010

About the author

Gary Younge is an author, broadcaster and editor-at-large for The Guardian, based in London. He also writes a monthly column, Beneath the Radar, for the Nation magazine and is the Alfred Knobler Fellow for The Nation Institute. He has written five books: Another Day in the Death of America, A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives; The Speech, The Story Behind Martin Luther King’s Dream; Who Are We?, And Should it Matter in the 21st century; Stranger in a Strange Land, Travels in the Disunited States and No Place Like Home, A Black Briton’s Journey Through the Deep South. He has made several radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from gay marriage to Brexit.

Born in Hertfordshire to Barbadian parents, he grew up in Stevenage until he was 17 when he went to Kassala, Sudan with Project Trust to teach English in a United Nations Eritrean refugee school. On his return he attended Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh where he studied French and Russian, Translating and Interpreting.

In his final year of at Heriot Watt he was awarded a bursary from The Guardian to study journalism at City University and started working at The Guardian in 1993. In 1996 he was awarded the Laurence Stern Fellowship, which sends a young British journalist to work at the Washington Post for three months.

After several years of reporting from all over Europe, Africa, the US and the Caribbean Gary was appointed The Guardian’s US correspondent in 2003, writing first from New York and then Chicago. In 2015 he returned to London where is now The Guardian’s editor-at-large.

He has enjoyed several prizes for his journalism. In 2017 he received the James Aaronson Career Achievement Award from Hunter College, City University of New York. In 2016 he won the Comment Piece of the Year from The Comment Awards and the Sanford St. Martin Trust Radio Award Winner for excellence in religious reporting. In 2015 he was awarded Foreign Commentator of the Year by The Comment Awards and the David Nyhan Prize for political journalism from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. “It’s the powerless on whose behalf he writes,” said the Center’s director. In 2009 he won the James Cameron award for the “combined moral vision and professional integrity” of his coverage of the Obama campaign. From 2001 to 2003 he won Best Newspaper Journalist in Britain’s Ethnic Minority Media Awards three years in a row.

His books have also won many awards. In 2017 Another Day in the Death of America won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize from Columbia Journalism School and Nieman Foundation, was shortlisted for the Helen Berenstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism from New York Public Library and The Jhalak prize and was longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Books and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non Fiction from American Library Association. Who Are We? was shortlisted for the Bristol Festival of Ideas Prize. No Place Like Home was shortlisted for The Guardian’s first book award.

He has also enjoyed considerable acclaim from academia. Currently a visiting professor at London South Bank University, he was appointed the Belle Zeller Visiting Professor for Public Policy and Social Administration at Brooklyn College (CUNY) from 2009-2011. in 2016 he was made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and in 2007 he was awarded Honorary Doctorates by both his alma mater, Heriot Watt University, and London South Bank University.

He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book on identity, with the backdrop of the beginnings of the 2012 election campaigns, the riots in London, conversations around "The Help", ideas on God, Christianity and thoughts about Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" added to the relevance of this book in the context of my everyday life and ideas about identity.

Using part memoir, part political, part sociological, part current events discussion, Youge uses his own complex identity, experience as well as stories from recent history to show how and why identity matters.

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“The problem is not that diversity exists, it is what we chose to make of it. In short, do we understand our various identities as being an integral part of our common humanity or as something separate, above and beyond it? “

“In the absences of any true control over their own lives, people cling to identity as to a life raft – desperately, instinctively, driven by the impulse to save self, kith and kin rather than with regard or respect for the whole. Life rafts are useful, particularly in emergencies, but they will never be as good as a functioning boat.”

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This idea of clinging to identity as emergency is interesting – in times of crisis, there is not time for reflection as the author points out. People scream, they don’t talk and nobody really listens. But as Younge points out, identity is already in politics, in our daily lives, it is integral part of how we relate to one another and talk about and represent ourselves. The question is are we going to recognize the complexity, the fluidity and have actual conversations and reflections searching for common ground, or are we going to succumb to the “flattening out” of our identities into an “us and them” idea creating more division, moral panic and misunderstanding?

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"Easy decisions take no courage at all. Most of us grow into our identities as easily as acorns do into oaks - rarely questioning, resister or protesting those events that do not appear go affect us directly. It is the difficult decisions, the ones that have consequences, challenge orthodoxies, bear risk and threaten status, that take real courage."

"I would later realize that the notion that identity is a refuge for the poor and dispossessed—a means of guarding the special interests of those who cannot support themselves—is sorely misguided. Those most wedded to preserving their identity—indeed, handcuffed to it—are often powerful. When all is said and done, they have the most to lose. They just don’t refer to it as identity. They call it tradition, heritage or, simply, history."

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It is certainly with courage that we recognize our identities, but then challenge them, ready to lose something to gain something so much more.

I have so much more to learn and I want to open up to listen. Anyone care for a cuppa complex tea?

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings about this book are very mixed. Younge is a talented, insightful and provocative writer but the subject matter was occasionally uninteresting in such a thorough way and the language sometimes felt like it came straight from a sociology textbook. Some sections put me in a state of semi-stupor while others were enthralling. The good outweighs the bad but when a 231 page book feels twice that size I cannot recommend it.

This is the third book I've read by Gary Younge and "Another Day in the Death of America" is easily the best of that bunch. That book I recommend highly.

[SB · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Those most wedded to preserving their identity - indeed handcuffed to it- are often powerful, they have the most to lose. They just don't refer to it as identity; they call it tradition, heritage or history."

"Labour take from the rich and give to the poor. The Conservatives take from the poor and give to the rich," so begins Who Are We? The first chapter recounts Gary Younge's childhood and his own reckoning of race, class and identity in the UK. I enjoyed his personal narrative and Younge has lived a very interesting life, having gone to Sudan to teach English to Eritrean refugees at 17 years old and worked and lived for years in France and the USA.

The first chapter documents his experiences as a working class black student working in Sudan with other British volunteers, most of whom were white and middle-class, "Despite the fact that my family had little money or status, I had a freedom that many of my fellow volunteers did not; [they were] prisoners of their own wealth and class [as if] this were their one chance to do something exciting before knuckling down to a routine of predictable if privileged drudgery. This one opportunity to exert their own free will would soon be over and the return to conformity inescapable." I liked this quote as I believe wealth imprisons, as well as liberates - and this isn't something much talked about, but I digress from the crux of the book!

Thereafter, each chapter deals with a different theme and identity; multiracial identities and how these form in response to the 'colour palette' of the environment, Jewish identity post-Holocaust, the evolving rights of women in Ireland, intersectionality, Islamic identity in the UK and France and the rise of small but aspiring nation states, such as Catalonia, Scotland and the Flemish regions of Belgium. The book is examines many identities and how they manifest in our globalised 21st century.

I enjoyed the chapter on intersectionality which illustrates how polarised identities can become; in 2008 America, many US voters were forced to choose between "race and gender" when Barack Obama was pitted against Hilary Clinton as leader of the Democrats. This 'dilemma' was obviously not a true dilemma, as - shock horror- people can have a multiple identities, so it wasn't quite the binary decision the media portrayed it to be, as some people can be both black and female (!)

I'd recommend this book for modern examples of "identity politics" (that hated phrase!) in the West. Younge rightly notes that whiteness/ maleness/ wealth is also an identity, but is often treated as the "default" with anything deviating from this being classed as "identity politics." Who are We? talks about the clash of identities today and the hierarchy of power looming over them.

[Geoffrey Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Gary Younge was published nine years ago, but remains as pertinent as ever. He examines the thorny question of identity and its relationship to power structures in various societies. From the Occidental malaise with Islam to race questions in the United States to identities in evolution ( think Ireland over the past 40 years), Younge stresses the importance of identity and the challenges it poses to our world. Younge is a journalist for The Guardian, and he worked in the a United States, saw the election of Barack Obama and the backlash that went from Birthers to Tea Partiers. The seeds of the election of Donald Trump were being sown, with the consequences we are still living with today. He discusses the tensions created by mobility within the European Union as it expanded eastward, in addition to the migration of people from former colonies to metropolitan Europe. Younge’s own parents moved to the United Kingdom from Barbados, so he speaks from some personal experience. The issues he raises have not gone away, and his observations remain valuable.

[Hesterr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an insightful book about identity and the politics around it, how its weaponized and divisive and how its truly never plain and simple and instead very fluid and complex, gary younge writes rlly well and like i kept picking it up throughout the last few monthsss!

I could write such a long speil but ill spare it and just put some of my fave quotes:
a guy talking about the welsh language "Let it die fairly, peacefully and reputably. Attached to it as we are, few would wish to postpone its euthanasy. But no sacrifice would be deemed to great to prevent it being murdered"

would highhhly recommend (but probs with the foreword relating it to today cause lowkey about the 2010s instead of now but still rlly intrestingg)

I might come back to this and right a big speilll

[Pip · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I book to explore and dip in out of. I really enjoyed the writing style (he is after all a great journalist), there were lots on interesting perspectives. It never really reached a crescendo, and maybe that was too much to expect given the complexity of the topic. Worth a read, I definitely read him again but I preferred the more recent ‘another day in the death of America’.

[Nicki Gunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good info here. As a US citizen, it's good to have information about the rest of the world. I think Younge didn't good job at covering multiple corners of it to make his points. Many different topics and angles. I enjoyed it.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the role of identity in the individual, society and politics. There's a lot to think about. It needs updating though to account for all the changes in the world since it was written. There's little room for optimism with the general inhumanity of mankind.

[Ross Fossard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough with plenty to think about in terms of identify. What I would say is that some of it is quite boring to read. You feel yourself wading through quite a lot of detailed information which is maybe more than the general reader requires. The case studies are too particular in places.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed reading the book but then i have always enjoyed Gary Younge's writings.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book exploring some very pertinent questions

[Callum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes it does matter - that all should read and have their thoughts provoked by this book.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would later realize that the notion that identity is a refuge for the poor and dispossessed—a means of guarding the special interests of those who cannot support themselves—is sorely misguided. Those most wedded to preserving their identity—indeed, handcuffed to it—are often powerful. When all is said and done, they have the most to lose. They just don’t refer to it as identity. They call it tradition, heritage or, simply, history.


***


Guardian columnist Gary Younge’s new book Who Are We attempts to analyze what lies at the core of identity politics, and how such things have changed in recent years. From the proliferation of increasingly diverse media—and through media, diversity among personalities and the imparting of varied ideologies—to the recent election of Barack Obama in the United States; through cultural and religious gatekeepers and their increased or wavering strength, depending on one’s location in the world; and by way of the challenges and questions levied at individuals, political organizations, communities, and religious groups in an era where everything is visible, and the global village is more a reality than ever before.

Younge’s own perceptions of identity and the transitory meanings thereof are outlined through a personal introductory chapter that charts his own growth and experiences with identity—both in the perception of others and how he has come to view himself and his position within the world, both current and as a reflection of his past. The concept of identity, the author argues, has evolved from simple historical divisions to something that an individual can choose or lay claim to. Whether such claims are recognized by certain figures or cultural/political/religious offices (the gatekeepers) factors into the legitimacy and legality of the claims, but the fact remains that, as argued in the chapter “The Chronicles of Cablinasia” an individual has a right to identify themselves with a particular cultural or social sect, regardless of how that sect or another may view said choice. Younge uses the example of Tiger Woods and his description of himself as “Cablinasian”—a combination of African-American, Chinese, Native American, Thai, and Dutch descent. Woods’ decision to classify himself as neither here nor there in our society’s rigidly defined classification system of Black, White, Asian, etc., certainly raised a few hackles, the decision to do so was not to exclude one or the other, but to refrain from positioning himself within a single historical and cultural sect that would carry with it certain weight that may or may not.

In a cultural melting pot such as ours, where everyone watches everyone else and celebrity remains the golden chalice through which so many rush to identify with (or live through gratuitously), the decision of one member of this “elite” class to align himself or herself with one sect or another becomes a victory in the ever-present desire to one-up one another—and perhaps more importantly for some, a loss to whatever sect did not win the identity of the individual in question.

There is an arms race outlined in Younge’s book—not of weapons or destructive capabilities, but of influence. Influence is a numbers game that relies on presence, commitment, heritage, and authenticity—it’s how various social sects and classes remain relevant on the world’s stage. In the chapter “Blessed Are the Gatekeepers” the importance, and some might say clout, of certain religious groups is brought to light. The ability to have one’s religious identity stripped clean—and through that, the recognition of a marriage—is a potentially devastating blow to an individual’s identity, and the identities of their family. But this right remains in certain Jewish Orthodox practices, where one’s lifestyle, right down to interests and passions held, could compromise a person’s right to consider themselves a part of the faith. This is not limited to faith and religious practices, but can be attributed to race and the colour of one’s skin as well. Regardless of how one is brought up, there are, in many parts of the world, obstacles and gatekeepers in place to force definitions where they see fit, and to extract them where they feel threatened, whether such actions are necessary or not.

Younge dissects each of these elements with a critical eye that, while objective, never loses the subjectivity he displays in the opening chapter. His experiences and interactions with others have given him a strong vocabulary, which he uses to pull apart the various levels of societal substructures—from the political to the religious and all points in between—and expose the still bitter pill: while we may have more ways by which to define ourselves and each other, our limitations—personal affectations and fears, and our reliance on existing legacy offices and ideologies—our ability to embrace all methods of personal and social definition remains trapped in the grip of the question of what it means to belong, and does it still matter.

[Colin Albin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gary Younge is a black British journalist whose parents came to Britain from Barbados in the early sixties, towards the end of post-war migration. He argues that we all possess a historical, social and political identity through which we view the world and through which the world views us. The notion that we are a product of our time and place is not a new one, but his treatment of this idea is novel and highly idiosyncratic. Indeed, he peppers the book with insights from his own experience of life in places as varied as Hertfordshire, Barbados, Sudan, Paris, Leningrad and Brooklyn.

Younge’s analysis is extensive, leaving no stone unturned in the search for understanding who we are and the implications of such a discovery. His microscope focuses on a wide range of topics, including beauty contests in Ireland, Tiger Woods’ unusual take on his African-American status, South African townships, the Soviet Union’s economic implosion, Islamic fundamentalism, genocide in Rwanda and Obama’s race for the White House.

Nevertheless, there are common themes: all identities are fluid and ever-changing; we have multiple identities; power is the key to understanding identities. For example, his discussion of the Danish cartoons which offended Muslims offers considerable insight into the key issue of power. By exploring freedom, responsibility and ideology, he raises the important question of where we draw lines for what is acceptable, and who are the people who draw them. Furthermore, Younge engages with the rise of globalization and the resulting loss of power we have over our own lives. He regards this loss as a phenomenon we experience nationally as well as individually, largely because of the ubiquitous nature of global brands and multinationals.

His analysis is both enlightening and challenging. It forces us to look at everyday happenings with new eyes and to see the realities which control our destiny. It is hard to argue with the idea that identities are formed in the context of material circumstances. Whether we are Christian, Muslim, American, Iraqi, black, gay or poor clearly determines so much about our life chances. And one of the key dilemmas Younge observes is the tendency for people to retreat into the comfort of personalized identities, be they racial, linguistic, sexual or whatever. The problem with this is, of course, the danger of portraying anyone who is different as the enemy.

In a sense, then, the book is a plea for humanity to search for common ground, to rise above the petty differences which we exaggerate into huge obstacles. His thesis is a case for solidarity and a passionate desire for some kind of higher ground. Sadly, this is where his powerful argument comes to an end. This is an excellent book, despite the fact that his tangential style and his meandering prose does not make for an easy read. But the biggest criticism I can make is that he fails to flesh out any kind of roadmap for this highly desirable way forward.

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I loved about this book was the style in which it was written. It is so fact-filled and educational, and it touched upon very "intellectual" topics, but it was written in such an accessible way. Unlike non-fiction books that are a tad dry and slow or scholarly articles that are pretentious and impossible to get through, Younge presents great information in a way that everyone can understand. Better yet, his stories really drive the points home and help us to "see" what he is talking about. He also surprises you throughout certain passages with his way with words. When you read a book hoping to learn something, you don't necessarily expect the writing to be beautiful, but Younge's writing is in fact beautiful. The book should be mandatory for everyone in the world - everyone would be a smarter global citizen after reading it, and I'm sending the book (with my dozens of notes in the margins) to a friend tomorrow!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I'm glad that I picked this one up since I really loved Younge's other book that I've read (Another Day in the Death of America).

I felt some portions of this book dragged along, or I just wasn't as interested in some of the topics mentioned, which is why it took me a few weeks to finish this 200-page book. I'd be interested in revisiting this book sometime in the future to see if I have an easier time with it a second time around.

[Mbogo J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across Gary Younge when I read his Guardian article about Brexit and thought well here is a person who knows what he is talking about. Having finished this book that sentiment hasn't changed, in fact it has been bolstered. In this book he confronts the deep problem of our identity and he does a good job while at it. I am sure going to be reading more of him.

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be really useful, especially the way it challenged me on the worth of identity politics. Younge weaves in personal history, current events and historical perspective, and (as ever, and so importantly) analyses the issues from an angle just slightly different from most commentators.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I trust you Gary

[JAnelyn]

I'm starting to read the stories later I'll tell it after I read it