Black, Listed by Jeffrey Boakye explores what it means to be Black and British through the lens of the terms (the promised list of the title) people often use to describe people of that race and cultural heritage, for better and worse. Boakye even has a periodic table at the front and end of the book (drawn by his wife, in fact) to help readers see the connections and divisions surrounding the terms he explores. Side note: I’m only now getting to this book because I’ve had trouble getting it in the States, a problem that needs a real solution.
I hesitated above when describing Boakye as Black and British, even though he uses the term Black British early in the book, because the book shows just how problematic those terms and all the terms related to those described that way actually are. However, he also shows how many of the terms have truth within them (or around them or underneath them or at least close to them, in some way), and we need some way to talk about people. By exploring a variety of terms, though, he ultimately shows that Black British people, like all people, have a kaleidoscope of identities that they navigate. As a minority (a much smaller minority in the UK than in the US), though, he and other people who are Black British, have to navigate those identities in ways that people who are the white majority simply don’t.
I hesitated above when describing Boakye as Black and British, even though he uses the term Black British early in the book, because the book shows just how problematic those terms and all the terms related to those described that way actually are. However, he also shows how many of the terms have truth within them (or around them or underneath them or at least close to them, in some way), and we need some way to talk about people. By exploring a variety of terms, though, he ultimately shows that Black British people, like all people, have a kaleidoscope of identities that they navigate. As a minority (a much smaller minority in the UK than in the US), though, he and other people who are Black British, have to navigate those identities in ways that people who are the white majority simply don’t.
Thus, he looks at Official Descriptors, such as Black and Black British, but also Mixed Race, Immigrant, and BME/BAME, as well as personal descriptors, such as his White-sounding first name and Black-sounding surname, in addition to “Some other black person who isn’t you” he’s often confused with. As one would expect, he also examines words used to denigrate: historical terms, derogatory terms, and loaded terms (such as exotic, powerful, and smooth). He explores terms within his minority community—both positive and negative—and ends with overtly political terms, such as ignorant, marginalized, and woke.
Boakye comes off as positive-sounding throughout much of the book, tossing in humorous asides, often at his own expense, while still raising important questions about these terms and the identities they create. In fact, in his section on Roadman, he says, “I don’t believe this book is a tragedy. Which means that I don’t believe criminality to be some kind of inherent flaw of the black condition. Far from it, I think this book might be a comedy, where the tangled confusion of identity has led to the black man being seen for what he is not.” That’s not the approach I expected to see.
However, by the end of the book, he lets loose on the reality of living as a Black British man in the twenty-first century. In his entry for woke, he writes (and I’m going to quote at length here),
Boakye comes off as positive-sounding throughout much of the book, tossing in humorous asides, often at his own expense, while still raising important questions about these terms and the identities they create. In fact, in his section on Roadman, he says, “I don’t believe this book is a tragedy. Which means that I don’t believe criminality to be some kind of inherent flaw of the black condition. Far from it, I think this book might be a comedy, where the tangled confusion of identity has led to the black man being seen for what he is not.” That’s not the approach I expected to see.
However, by the end of the book, he lets loose on the reality of living as a Black British man in the twenty-first century. In his entry for woke, he writes (and I’m going to quote at length here),
There’s something very obvious about this book that I haven’t yet said, and I haven’t yet said it because I’ve tried to write all of this in a way that makes it less of the thing that is so obvious about it in the first place.
This book is terrifying.
I know I come across as this plucky, sometimes nonchalant narrator, taking you on a jaunt through black history with a smile and a smirk and an inquisitive spring in my step, but the landscape I’m picking through is a war-torn disaster zone. The buildings are decimated and there are walking wounded stumbling around us in a confused daze, wondering what the hell happened. The overtly chipper delivery of this narrative is deliberate, a desperate attempt to counterbalance the horror. Bring a little sunshine to the storm. But the clouds keep gathering and shots are still being fired. I’m so sorry to do this to you, but I led you here under false pretences. You were never safe. We’re in a war zone and we might not make it out in one piece. Everything I’ve shown you, every landmark we’ve strolled past could have exploded at any moment and taken us with it. Did you not notice all my nervous twitches? My ticks? My shallow breathing and rapid eye blinks? My bitten fingernails? I’m a nervous wreck, because I thought I was a tour guide, then I became a journalist, and then it turned out I was a war journalist, and now I’m realising I’m a civilian under attack, and we’re all in the firing line.
I can’t say that I recommend Boayke’s book as an introductory book about race for white Americans. There’s too much that is quite specific to the UK and the specific cultural/racial history there. However, for somebody who already has done some reading on race, it’s a great next step to show what racism looks like in other countries, but specifically the UK. Americans have a tendency to think in narrow ways about race, and Boayke’s book is a great expansion of race and identity. It’s well worth the time for those who want to look across the pond.