what type of essay is back to my own country

Back to My Own Country Summary

Summary & analysis of andrea levy's back to my own country .

‘ Back to My Own Country ’ is an essay written by Andrea Levy, a British author renowned for her exploration of themes related to identity, race, and immigration. The essay reflects Levy’s personal experiences growing up as a second-generation British person of Caribbean descent and her journey to embrace her cultural heritage. Andrea Levy was born in London in 1956 to Jamaican parents who immigrated to the UK. Levy’s writing often delves into the complexities of multiculturalism, belonging, and the legacy of the British Empire.

Back to My Own Country  | Summary & Analysis 

In the early 1960s, during the era of the British Empire’s decline and the rise of the British Commonwealth, the narrator recalls a poignant experience on a London bus. They encountered a friendly black man from the Caribbean who tried to engage with fellow passengers, who were all white and mostly ignored him due to his differences. The narrator, also of Caribbean descent, felt a strong connection to him and wanted to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between him and the other passengers. This encounter left a lasting impression on the narrator, prompting questions about the historical links that brought people from the Caribbean to Britain and the subsequent lack of understanding between cultures. The narrator grew up in a London council estate, went to a local school, and led a typical working-class life, but this encounter highlighted the importance of exploring the lost history and cultural diversity that shaped Britain.

The narrator’s parents immigrated from Jamaica to Britain in the post-World War II era seeking better opportunities. Despite being middle-class in Jamaica, they faced challenges in England, struggling to find adequate housing and jobs. The narrator’s father worked for the Post Office, while their mother, unable to use her Jamaican teaching qualification, took up sewing. Despite their hardships, the parents believed in assimilating, keeping a low profile, and being respectful to make a life in the UK.The family’s fair skin made them feel superior due to the color-based class system in Jamaica. This resulted in their isolation from darker-skinned Caribbean immigrants in England. The narrator was expected to avoid associating with darker-skinned individuals, and skin color became a significant factor in their upbringing.

The family experienced racial prejudice, with people questioning their right to be in the country, ridiculing their culture, appearance, and smell. Despite the mistreatment, the narrator initially sought acceptance from those who discriminated against them. Over time, they came to realize the importance of standing up against racial discrimination. The text highlights the challenges and complexities of immigrant life in post-war Britain, including the struggle for acceptance and the internalized biases within the narrator’s own family.

The narrator experienced pervasive but subtle racism during their life in Britain, leading to feelings of self-hatred and shame about their Caribbean heritage. They made efforts to assimilate and be as British as possible, disregarding their Jamaican background. Growing up, their friends knew little about the Caribbean and showed no curiosity, which made the narrator feel like an outsider. This feeling intensified as they encountered more middle-class people during their time at art college and attempted to hide their working-class origins.

However, a pivotal moment occurred when the narrator participated in a racism awareness course at a sex-education project. Initially aligning with the white group, they were beckoned over to the black side, which made them realize their own insecurity about identifying as black. They questioned whether they met certain qualifications or had the right experiences to claim a black identity. This experience marked a turning point, causing the narrator to confront their own identity and ultimately embrace their black heritage. It was a profound and life-changing moment for them. Writing became a lifeline for the narrator, as they embarked on a writing course that encouraged exploring their personal experiences, including their family upbringing and complex relationship with race.

Through writing, they began to understand that their experiences as a black person in a majority white country were part of the broader black experience. Writing also led them to a life-changing visit to Jamaica, where they discovered family and heritage they had never known, inspiring them to embrace their Caribbean background and identity.

Now proudly identifying as a black British writer, their fiction often revolves around their Caribbean heritage. They share a sentiment similar to Toni Morrison, who found richness in writing from her perspective as a black woman. Delving into their Caribbean heritage made the narrator increasingly interested in Britain’s Caribbean history. They highlight how the Caribbean played a crucial role in Europe’s early colonization efforts, with various European powers, including Britain, exploiting the islands.

The British involvement in the Caribbean, particularly in sugar production with the labor of enslaved Africans, contributed significantly to the country’s wealth and the growth of cities like Bristol, Liverpool, and London. The profits from Caribbean slavery were reinvested in Britain’s industry and infrastructure, fueling the expansion of the British Empire. The British government compensate slave owners with a substantial sum of twenty million pounds when slavery ended in 1833. This payment was for the perceived loss of their ‘property,’ portraying the slave owners as the victims in this historical context.

However, the Caribbean islands hold a far more complex history beyond just slavery. Many people, including indentured servants, impoverished individuals from various regions of Britain, press-ganged sailors, convicts, Sephardic Jews, Middle Eastern merchants, and later indentured laborers from India and China, came to the Caribbean under duress or seeking a new life. This resulted in a diverse and unique social mix, leading to the development of Creole cultures and a complex hierarchy based on skin color. Even after slavery formally ended, the British continued to implement a policy of racial apartheid in the Caribbean until the 1960s, maintaining a racial divide. The absence of this history from British mainstream education has led to a significant knowledge gap, contributing to the feeling of otherness experienced by individuals like the black man on the bus.

The silence surrounding British plantation slavery in the Caribbean in history books is notable, and the legacy of this silence is a claim that the issue has no lasting impact on the country. However, this silence ignores the profound historical and societal implications of British slavery in the Caribbean.

The lack of education about this history is reflected in the author’s own experiences and interactions, where even educated interviewers admitted not knowing about Britain’s involvement in Caribbean slavery. There is also a widespread misunderstanding about the geography and diversity of the Caribbean islands among the general public. The author emphasizes that the history of the black people of the Caribbean is missing from the collective knowledge and asserts that it should be an integral part of British history, comparable to events like the Norman Conquest or the Tudor era.

The Caribbean holds a unique place in Britain’s imperial history, as one of the earliest and longest-lasting parts of the British Empire. Its population mix and the creation of distinctive societies make it stand out. While other parts of the empire debate their British legacies in terms of railways, bureaucracies, or governance systems, the Caribbean’s legacy is intertwined with everything, including its towns, cities, landscapes, and most importantly, the people themselves. The Caribbean’s influence on modern Britain, from its rise as a world power to its attitudes on race, is undeniable. Stuart Hall’s perspective emphasizes that the very concept of British ‘greatness’ is connected to the empire.

The author and their family are as much a product of Britain as the white children they grew up with in Highbury. Britain’s history in the Caribbean made it almost inevitable for people like the author’s father and the passengers on the Windrush ship to end up in the UK. This immigration, often seen as a ‘gift’ to Britain, has enriched the country with diverse talents, ideas, creativity, and ways of life, turning it into a sophisticated multicultural society. The text underscores that despite the significant contributions of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Britain, there are still many young people of Caribbean descent who lack an understanding of their heritage, and many white Britons who remain unaware of the shared histories that connect them. The author calls for recognizing the Caribbean’s vital place in British history and its role in shaping the nation’s identity and development.

Back to My Own Country  | Socio-Historical Context 

The  British Empire  was one of the largest and most powerful empires in history. It spanned the globe, with colonies and territories in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Caribbean. The Caribbean region was particularly significant as it was one of the earliest areas colonized by the British. The Caribbean colonies played a vital role in the British Empire’s economic prosperity. Plantations in the Caribbean, primarily focused on sugar production, were highly profitable and relied heavily on enslaved labor from Africa. The exploitation of enslaved Africans was central to the success of these plantations. The legacy of slavery in the Caribbean is a critical aspect of colonial history. Enslaved Africans endured immense suffering, and the plantation system left a profound impact on the social, economic, and cultural fabric of the Caribbean. The end of slavery in the 19th century did not erase these historical scars.

The text also reflects on the racial prejudices and discrimination faced by Caribbean immigrants and their descendants in post-war Britain. Prejudice was deeply rooted in British society and extended to various aspects of life, including housing, employment, and social interactions. The author mentions the alienation experienced by the black man on the London bus, illustrating how racial stereotypes and biases affected everyday interactions. The prevailing view at the time often portrayed people of Caribbean descent as outsiders or ‘aliens’ in their own country. Racial prejudice was systemic, and institutions, including the workplace and public services, often upheld discriminatory practices. Black individuals frequently faced limited opportunities and unequal treatment, despite being British subjects. The essay illustrates the challenges of race relations and racial prejudice faced by Caribbean immigrants in post-war Britain. These historical contexts are essential to understanding the experiences and perspectives of individuals like the author and her family.

After World War II, Britain faced significant economic challenges, including the need for labor to rebuild the country. Many British men had been conscripted for military service, and the war had also caused a decline in the British working-age population. To address labor shortages and boost the economy, Britain  actively encouraged immigration from its Commonwealth countries.  This act provided a form of citizenship to people in Commonwealth countries and their territories. It allowed them to travel to Britain without needing a visa or work permit, making it easier for individuals from the Commonwealth to settle in the UK. The arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush in June 1948 is considered a significant milestone in the history of Caribbean immigration to Britain. The ship carried 492 passengers from the Caribbean, mainly from Jamaica, to Tilbury Docks in Essex. The passengers included individuals who had served in the British armed forces during the war and others seeking better economic prospects.

The Windrush generation is named after this ship and represents the first large wave of Caribbean immigrants to Britain. They came to be known as the ‘Windrush Generation’ and played a crucial role in the post-war reconstruction of Britain. Many of them took on essential jobs in healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing, contributing significantly to the country’s recovery. Despite their contributions, the Windrush generation faced numerous challenges in Britain, including racial discrimination and unequal treatment. This discrimination extended to housing, employment, and public services. Despite being British subjects, they often encountered hostility and prejudice. The Windrush generation laid the foundation for subsequent waves of Caribbean immigration to Britain. Over the years, their descendants have become an integral part of British society, contributing culturally, economically, and socially to the nation’s diverse fabric. In recent years, the Windrush generation faced a controversy related to their citizenship status.

Changes in immigration laws and a lack of documentation led to many facing the threat of deportation, despite having lived in Britain for decades. This issue brought significant public attention to the contributions and challenges faced by this generation.

Caribbean immigrants who arrived in post-war Britain often faced a  cultural disconnect . They left behind their homeland, traditions, and social networks to adapt to a society with different customs and norms. This cultural gap created challenges in finding a sense of belonging. Many Caribbean immigrants, like the author’s family, grappled with questions of identity. They were caught between their Caribbean heritage and the pressure to assimilate into British culture. This struggle often led to a sense of not fully belonging to either culture. Language played a significant role in cultural assimilation. Caribbean immigrants may have spoken English, but their accents and dialects were different. This sometimes led to communication barriers and misunderstandings, contributing to feelings of isolation.

Caribbean immigrants often faced racial prejudice and discrimination, making the process of assimilation more challenging. Negative stereotypes and unequal treatment made it difficult to fully integrate into British society. However, the  legacy of Caribbean immigration  has left an indelible mark on British society, contributing to a multicultural, diverse, and enriched nation that celebrates its Caribbean heritage and values the contributions of immigrants and their descendants.

Back to My Own Country  | Rhetorical and Literary Devices  

Levy employs   imagery  throughout the essay to help readers vividly imagine the scenes and situations she describes. 

Levy provides rich details about the setting, such as the London bus, the council estate, and the neighborhoods. These descriptions allow readers to immerse themselves in the environments she grew up in and the situations she experienced. Levy also often employs imagery to highlight contrasts, such as the contrast between her family’s Caribbean background and the predominantly white neighborhood or the contrast between her childhood experiences and the multicultural London of today. These contrasts help convey the evolving nature of British society and the changing perceptions of race and identity. Additionally, when discussing the historical context of British colonialism and the Caribbean, Levy uses imagery to evoke the past, such as the imagery of sugar plantations and enslaved labor, which helps readers visualize the historical injustices and their enduring impact.

The use of  anecdotes  in the essay adds a personal and human dimension to the narrative. These personal stories serve to connect the author’s experiences and family history to broader socio-historical themes. Anecdotes also provide concrete examples that illustrate the larger ideas and issues discussed in the essay. For example, Levy begins her essay with a personal anecdote from her childhood. She recalls a specific incident on a London bus in the 1960s when she encountered a black man who was trying to engage with white passengers. This anecdote serves as an engaging introduction to the themes of identity, race, and belonging. It draws readers into the author’s personal experience and sets the tone for the essay.

Throughout the essay, Levy shares anecdotes from her family’s background, such as her father’s arrival on the Empire Windrush and her mother’s journey on a Jamaica Banana Producers boat. She also mentions various other anecdotes such as about her mother finding money, about visiting Jamaica, about media interviews etc

There is also prominent use of ethos, pathos, and logos in Andrea Levy’s essay.  Ethos  refers to the ethical appeal, which involves establishing the author’s credibility and trustworthiness. Andrea Levy draws on her personal experiences and family history as a person of Caribbean heritage growing up in Britain. This personal connection establishes her as a credible narrator who can speak authentically about the themes of race, identity, and immigration.

Pathos  relates to the emotional appeal, aiming to evoke strong emotions and empathy in the audience. Levy uses emotionally charged language to convey the feelings of shame, embarrassment, and longing she experienced as a child. She also shares personal anecdotes, such as her mother finding money when they had none or her visit to Jamaica, which evoke a range of emotions, from hope and resilience to discovery and connection. These anecdotes engage the reader’s emotions and create a deeper connection to the narrative.

Logos  refers to the logical appeal, which involves using reasoning and evidence to persuade the audience. Levy incorporates historical facts and information about the British Empire, Caribbean history, and immigration to support her arguments. She discusses the history of British plantation slavery and its economic impact, providing a logical basis for understanding the legacy of Caribbean immigration in Britain. The author offers observations and insights into the social and cultural dynamics of her time, such as the racial prejudices, assimilation challenges, and the changing landscape of multicultural London. These observations contribute to a logical understanding of the issues at hand. These persuasive elements work together to make her narrative compelling and thought-provoking.

In ‘ Back to My Own Country ,’ Levy provides insight into her upbringing, feelings of alienation, and eventual rediscovery of her Caribbean roots. The essay delves into the broader context of Britain’s relationship with the Caribbean and its legacy, addressing issues of race, identity, and the impact of historical events on individuals and societies.

 Everything Stuck to Him

Analysis of young and dyslexic, related articles.

Reflections of Spring | Summary and Analysis

Beyond the bayou | summary & analysis, on the rule of the road by a.g gardiner  , why you reckon summary & analysis, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• The Spider and the Fly by Mary Botham Howitt | Summary and Analysis January 5, 2019

Adblock Detected

• Introductions
• Diversity Jobs
• Windrush 2020 Events
• Contact Us / Advertise
• Black History Month
• Sign in / Join

Windrush 2020 Message from Cllr Joseph Ejiofor, Leader of Haringey Council

Tilbury Bridge Walkway of Memories – A Tribute to the Windrush…

Rhammel O’Dwyer-Afflick – Black Lives Matter, Always.

Windrush Day In Bristol

Windrush Day on the Railways

We must honour the legacy of Windrush Day

Joy Warmington – When no one’s looking

Celebrating Windrush Day 2020 In Wales

Boris Johnson celebrates members of Windrush generation & says ‘they contributed…

Prince Charles sends a message to Britain’s Caribbean community on Windrush…

Today’s Modern Army has Roots in Caribbean Bravery

Nottingham Trent University

Prostate Cancer UK

Green Park interim & executive search

Back to My Own Country: An essay by the late Andrea Levy

In this reflective essay the Late Andrea Levy who sadly died of cancer on 14th February 2019 aged just 62 delves deep into notions of racism and pinpoints events which compelled her to use writing as a tool to explore and understand her Caribbean heritage.

I remember a journey I took on a London bus when I was a young girl. It was in the early 1960s. The bus was full of people and one of them was a black man. That was not a common sight in those days. I could tell from his accent that, like my parents, he was from somewhere in the Caribbean. He was talkative, smiling politely at people and trying to engage them in chat. But all the other people on the bus were white and they were looking at him askance. Nobody would be drawn into conversation; they clearly wanted nothing to do with him. But he carried on trying anyway.

I was embarrassed by him, but also overcome with pity for his hopeless attempt to be friendly on a London bus. I was sure that he was a nice man and that if those people on the bus could just get to know him then they would like him. My family also came from the Caribbean. I identified with him. He somehow became my mum and dad , my sisters, me. But to the other people on the bus he was more than a stranger, he was an alien. I felt a longing to make some introductions. I could sense the misunderstandings that were taking place, but I didn’t know why, or what I could do. The man was different. He looked different and he sounded different. But how come people in England did not know him? Why was he, and why were all black people from Britain’s old empire, so completely alien to them? This encounter is something I will never forget.

The same thing would not happen today in quite that way. Everyone is used to a mix of cultures and London buses are full of Londoners from all over the world. But still there are silences and gaps in our knowledge and understanding. What are the links that made Britain a natural destination for that Caribbean man on the bus, 50 years ago? How and why did Britain forge those links in the first place? These are questions that have come to fascinate me, because they reveal what amounts to a lost history for many of us. It was certainly lost to me for much of my early life, and it was a loss that caused me some problems.

At the time of my bus ride I lived on a council estate in north London. I went to a local school. Spoke like a good cockney. I played outside with all the white kids who lived around my way – rounders, skipping and hide and seek. I ate a lot of sweets. Watched a lot of television: Coronation Street , Emergency Ward 10 . Loved the Arsenal. Hated Tottenham Hotspur. I lived the life of an ordinary London working-class girl.

But my parents had come to this country from Jamaica. And in the area of London where we lived, that made my family very odd. We were immigrants. Outsiders. My dad had been a passenger on the Empire Windrush ship when it famously sailed into Tilbury in June 1948 and, according to many, changed the face of Britain for ever. My mum came to England on a Jamaica Banana Producer’s boat. It sailed into West India dock on Guy Fawkes Night in the same year, under a shower of fireworks that my mum believed were to welcome her.

My dad was an accounting clerk in Jamaica for, among other companies, Tate & Lyle. My mum was a teacher. They were middle class. They grew up in large houses. They even had servants. They came to Britain on British Empire passports in order to find more opportunities for work and advancement. But once here they struggled to find good housing. They had to live in one room for many years. They had a period of being homeless and then living in half-way housing where my dad was not allowed to stay with his wife and his three children. Eventually they were housed in the council flat in Highbury where I was born, and where I grew up.

My dad did not have trouble finding work. He was employed by the Post Office. But my mum was not allowed to use her Jamaican teaching qualification to teach in England. She needed to re-train. So she took in sewing throughout my childhood. But she still nursed her dream of becoming a teacher again.

In England, the fabled Mother Country that they had learned so much about at school in Jamaica, my parents were poor and working class.

They believed that in order to get on in this country they should live quietly and not make a fuss. They should assimilate and be as respectable as they possibly could. Clean the front step every week. Go to church on Sundays. Keep their children well dressed and scrubbed behind the ears.

On one occasion my mum did not have money to buy food for our dinner. None at all. She worried that she might be forced into the humiliation of asking someone, a neighbour perhaps, for a loan. She walked out into the street praying for a solution, and found a one-pound note lying on the pavement. In my mum’s eyes that was not a stroke of luck, that was a strategy.

My parents believed that, with no real entitlement to anything, they must accept what this country was willing to give. They were, after all, immigrants. As long as they didn’t do anything too unusual that might upset the people of England, then they could get on. My mum was desperate for my dad to lose his accent and stop saying ‘nah man’ and ‘cha’ in every sentence. They never discussed Jamaica with anyone. My mum would get embarrassed if she saw a black person drawing attention to themselves. It drew attention to her as well, and she hated that.

My family is fair-skinned. In Jamaica this had had a big effect on my parents’ upbringing, because of the class system, inherited from British colonial times, people took the colour of your skin very seriously. My parents had grown up to believe themselves to be of a higher class than any darker-skinned person. This isolated them from other black Caribbeans who came to live here – they wanted nothing to do with them.

My mum once told me how, back in Jamaica, her father would not let her play with children darker than her. She said wistfully, ‘But I had to, or I would have had no one to play with’. So when she came to England she was pleased to be bringing her children up amongst white children. We would always have lighter-skinned children to play with. I was expected to isolate myself from darker-skinned people too, and it seemed perfectly normal to me that the colour of your skin was one of the most important things about you. White people of course never had to think about it. But if you were not white, well then, how black were you? I accepted all of this as logical. That was how I would be judged.

Light-skinned or not, still we were asked, ‘When are you going back to your own country?’, ‘Why are you here?’, ‘Why is your food so funny?’, ‘Why does your hair stick up?’, ‘Why do you smell?’ The clear message was that our family was foreign and had no right to be here. When a member of the far-right group the National Front waved one of their leaflets in my face and started laughing, I felt I owed them some sort of apology. I wanted them to like me. It would be years before I realised I could be angry with them.

The racism I encountered was rarely violent, or extreme, but it was insidious and ever present and it had a profound effect on me. I hated myself. I was ashamed of my family, and embarrassed that they came from the Caribbean.

In my efforts to be as British as I could be, I was completely indifferent to Jamaica. None of my friends knew anything about the Caribbean. They didn’t know where it was, or who lived there, or why. And they had no curiosity about it beyond asking why black people were in this country. It was too foreign and therefore not worth knowing.

As I got older my feeling of outsiderness became more marked, as did the feeling that nothing in my background – my class or my ethnicity – was really worth having. At art college I encountered middle-class people for the first time. Proper middle class – debutantes with ponies, that sort of thing. Keeping those origins of mine a secret became paramount. Few people at my college knew I lived on a council estate. Once, when given a lift home, I got my friends to drop me at the gate of a proper house. I walked up the path waving them off. Then as soon as they were out of view I walked back to my flat.

I got a degree in textile design and worked as a designer for about ten minutes before I realised it was not for me. After that I worked for a brief while as a shop assistant, a dresser at the BBC and the Royal Opera House, and a receptionist at a family-planning clinic.

Then something happened. I was working part-time for a sex-education project for young people in Islington. One day the staff had to take part in a racism awareness course. We were asked to split into two groups, black and white. I walked over to the white side of the room. It was, ironically, where I felt most at home – all my friends, my boyfriend, my flatmates, were white. But my fellow workers had other ideas and I found myself being beckoned over by people on the black side. With some hesitation I crossed the floor. It was a rude awakening. It sent me to bed for a week.

By this time I was scared to call myself a black person. I didn’t feel I had the right qualifications. Didn’t you have to have grown up in a ‘black community’? Didn’t you need to go to the Caribbean a lot? Didn’t your parents need to be proud of being black? Didn’t my friends need to be black? My upbringing was so far removed from all of that, I felt sure I would be found out as an imposter. I was not part of the black experience, surely?

It was a life-changing moment.

Fortunately I had recently enrolled on an afternoon-a-week writing course at the City Lit in London, just as a hobby. Writing came to my rescue. The course had an emphasis on writing about what you know. So, nervously I began to explore what I knew – my family upbringing and background, and my complicated relationship with colour. Thinking about what I knew, and exploring my background with words, began to open it up for me as never before. I soon came to realise that my experience of growing up in this country was part of what it meant to be black. All those agonies over skin shade. Those silences about where we had come from. The shame. The denial. In fact I came to see that every black person’s life, no matter what it is, is part of the black experience. Because being black in a majority white country comes with a myriad of complications and contradictions. It was writing that helped me to understand that.

A few months into the course I had the urge to visit Jamaica for the very first time and stay with the family I had never met. I went for Christmas. It was an amazing experience. I discovered a family I had never really known I had. I realised that I meant something to people who lived on the other side of the world. I met my aunt and cousins and saw where my mum grew up. I realised for the first time that I had a background and an ancestry that was fascinating and worth exploring. Not only that, but I had the means to do it – through writing.

I am now happy to be called a black British writer, and the fiction I have written has all been about my Caribbean heritage in some way or another. It is a very rich seam for a writer and it is, quite simply, the reason that I write. Toni Morrison was once asked if she felt constrained by her being seen as a black writer. She replied: ‘ being a black woman writer is not a shallow place but a rich place to write from. It doesn’t limit my imagination; it expands it. ’ That is how I feel.

The more I began to delve into my Caribbean heritage the more interesting Britain’s Caribbean story became for me. The story of the Caribbean is a white story too and one that goes back a long way. The region was right at the very heart of Europe’s early experiments in colonising the world. In the 1500s it was the Spanish who first exploited those newly found islands, displacing the indigenous people. The Dutch, the French and the British came soon after. The island claimed earliest for Britain was Barbados, in 1625. But soon Britain was a major coloniser in the region. A whole string of islands became ‘British’. Islands that for a long time were seen as our most lucrative overseas possessions. Sugar was the main crop, as important to Britain then as oil is today. It was planted, harvested and processed by the slave labour of black Africans. That slave trade from West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas was the largest forced migration in human history. Those islands soon became brutal island-factories helping to fuel and to fund the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Huge family fortunes were made. Major cities like Bristol, Liverpool and London grew wealthy on the proceeds. The money that slavery in the Caribbean generated was reinvested in Britain’s industry and infrastructure. Britain’s empire grew as a result.

When British slavery finally ended in 1833, compensation was paid by the British government. It amounted to 20 million pounds (many billions in today’s money). It was paid to the slave owners for the loss of their property. They were seen as the injured party.

But there is more to those Caribbean islands than just the history of slavery. Many white people went, if not in chains, then under duress: indentured servants and poor people from all corners of Britain who were trying to escape hardship at home or to build a new life. Many were press-ganged sailors, or convict labour. There were Sephardic Jews from Iberia, merchants from the Middle East and, later, indentured labourers from India and China. A social mix was created like in no other place on earth. Creole cultures developed with a wide range of skin colours that were elaborately classified (mulatto, quadroon, octoroon and so on) as a divide-and-rule tactic by the British plantocracy. Racial difference and racial value developed into a ‘science’. After the end of slavery in the Caribbean the British continued to rule their islands through a policy of racial apartheid right up until they finally left in the 1960s.

But all this happened 3,000 miles away from Britain, and as a result it has been possible for it to quietly disappear from British mainstream history. This is the absence, the gap in knowledge, the amnesia of the British that made the black man on the bus such an alien. It is unthinkable that a book on American history could leave out plantation slavery in the southern states. But in British history books the equivalent is the case, or at least the importance of those centuries of British slavery in the Caribbean is underplayed. That British plantation slavery has no lasting legacy for this country is absurd, but it is a claim that is made implicitly by this silence. It was so very long ago, it seems to say, we don’t need to dredge it up.

I remember what I was taught at school about Britain in the Caribbean. I had one lesson on the transatlantic slave trade. We looked at illustrations of slaves in ships. But that was all. I learned much more about William Wilberforce and the campaign for the abolition of slavery than anything about the life of a slave. We know more about slavery in the American South than in the British Caribbean. We are familiar with the struggles of African Americans from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement. But American slavery was different from Caribbean slavery. In the Caribbean, slaves far outnumbered the white owners, and that mix of isolation, fear and dependency produced very different societies from those of the American South. America’s story will not do for us. Our legacy of slavery is unique, and we need to understand what it is.

I wrote a novel, The Long Song , set in the time of slavery in the Caribbean, and when I was promoting the book I had numerous media interviews. On two separate occasions the interviewers – bright, university-educated people in each case – admitted to me that they had not known that Britain had used slaves in the Caribbean. Slavery they thought had only been in America. Going around the country doing readings I was surprised at the ignorance of people about where the islands were, or of how many of them there were. Many people I met believed all people from the Caribbean came from Jamaica.

And what of the period after slavery? What about the century of ‘racial apartheid’ that grew up in the colonial era, the time when my mum and dad learned to know their racial place and to keep themselves separate? The history of the black people of the Caribbean is missing.

Apart from being an exotic holiday destination the islands have now become an irrelevance here. They are no longer wealthy. They are not rich with natural resources. They no longer have the power they enjoyed when some of the most famous families in Britain were there. It is too easy to forget what happened and how it has affected our lives today. But it is as much a part of British history as the Norman Conquest, or the Tudors.

No one would claim that out of Britain’s many stories of empire the Caribbean is the most important. But it is one of the earliest, one of the longest in duration, and certainly one of the most unusual in terms of population mix and the creation of unique societies. In other parts of Britain’s old empire, such as India or Africa, we can debate what fading legacy the British have left, whether it is railways, bureaucracies or parliamentary systems. In the Caribbean the legacy is, in one sense, everything. Not just the towns, the cities and the landscape, but the very people themselves; their origins, their ethnic mix, their hybrid cultures, all result from what the British did on those islands before they finally left them. And conversely, Britain growing to become a world power, its attitudes to race, and even how it sees itself today, these things are in no small part the legacy that the British Caribbean has left for modern Britain. ‘The very notion of Great Britain’s “greatness” is bound up with Empire’ , the cultural theorist, Stuart Hall, once wrote: ‘Euro-scepticism and little Englander nationalism could hardly survive if people understood whose sugar flowed through English blood, and rotted English teeth’.

What this means of course is that I, and my family, are products of Britain just as much as the white kids I grew up with in Highbury. Given Britain’s history in the Caribbean it was almost inevitable that people like my dad and his fellow passengers on the Windrush would end up here. They belonged, whether Britain realised it or not. One of the consequences of having an empire, of being a cultural hub, is that the world ultimately comes to you. That’s how hubs work.

Britons of Caribbean heritage have been in this country in significant numbers for 65 years now. We are three or four generations on from the man on the London bus. Immigration to Britain since the end of the Second World War has been a final, unexpected gift to Britain from its old empire. The benefits that the labour and the enterprise of immigrants, like those from the Caribbean, have brought to Britain are incalculable. Their ideas, their creativity and their ways of life have helped turn this country into a sophisticated multi-culture. This windfall of talent and variety is one of the great unforeseen benefits to Britain.

But there are still countless young Britons today of Afro-Caribbean descent who have as little understanding of their ancestry and have as little evidence of their worth as I did when I was growing up. And there are countless white Britons who are unaware of the histories that bind us together. Britain made the Caribbean that my parents came from. It provided the people – black and white – who make up my ancestry. In return my ancestors, through their forced labour and their enterprise, contributed greatly to the development of modern Britain. My heritage is Britain’s story too. It is time to put the Caribbean back where it belongs – in the main narrative

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Tinder Press 

Illustrations by Hannah Ekua Buckman Written by The Late Andrea Levy

Andrea Levy died on 14th February 2019 ages just 62 after living with Cancer for 15 years. She was born in England to Jamaican parents who came to Britain in 1948. After attending writing workshops when she was in her mid-thirties, Levy began to write the novels that she, as a young woman, had always wanted to read – entertaining novels that reflect the experiences of black Britons, which look at Britain and its changing population and at the intimacies that bind British history with that of the Caribbean. She has written six books, including Small Island , which was the unique winner of both the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread book of the Year, in addition to the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and the Orange Prize ‘Best of the Best’. Her most recent novel, The Long Song , won the Walter Scott Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

RELATED ARTICLES MORE FROM AUTHOR

Tilbury bridge walkway of memories – a tribute to the windrush generation.

I am sure this post has touched all the internet people, its really really pleasant piece of writing on building up new web site. I’ve been browsing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before. It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this submit and if I may I desire to recommend you some fascinating things or advice. Perhaps you could write next articles regarding this article.

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Recent Posts

Caribbean women and the nhs, how caribbean migrants helped to rebuild britain, windrush garden party at soho house by recognize black heritage & culture, before and after windrush: 350 years of black people in lambeth, follow us on instagram @asiyami_gold.

POPULAR POSTS

Nazerone (Neddie) Howells – A life dedicated to Britain and the...

Fashion & Windrush Voyage, Hope, and Popping Style

Baroness Floella Benjamin on coming to England

Popular category.

• Windrush Day Events 2020 23
• Windrush Events London 15
• Introductions 13
• Windrush Day Official Sponsors 6
• Windrush 2020 Events 6
• Community 4
• Windrush West Midlands 4

Connected Cultures

• Eddie Hewitt
• Oct 31, 2015

Six Stories and an Essay by Andrea Levy - a review, part one.

Updated: Nov 11, 2020

Back to My Own Country (an essay)

Today, “Everyone is used to a mixture of cultures”, Andrea Levy asserts. In contrast, again according to the author, many of us just don’t know about British black history and how a big part of our combined culture and society have been formed. Levy claims that “The history of the black people of the Caribbean is missing” and clearly wants to set out this history and to right some wrongs. This entails a detailed explanation of why Caribbeans came to Britain and why Britain forged links with the region in the first place. She felt the need to explore this issue when she was growing up, and still feels the need to explain it now.

The essay is also personal, and deals with her own story amongst the stories of the many. Britain is her own country. Jamaica is also her own country. Details of her family’s adaptation to London life, the way that her dual sense of belonging developed and how she became a writer are among the many fascinating insights provided.

Much of this essay is retrospective, but understanding this history is the key to a better present, to moving forward, to making sure that racism is left firmly in the past.

Levy has previously written about the sugar plantations and slavery in her brilliant novel The Long Song. She is quite simply one of the finest writers of realist fiction, and is equally compelling in this essay. Referring to the “The British Plantocracy”, Levy reflects on the impact of British government rule as well as wide-spread attitudes based on “a policy of racial apartheid” which continued into the nineteen sixties. The impact of the British was more complex and diverse than many may realise. Levy informs us that there were plenty of poor white people in the Caribbean, and hence “A social mix was created like no other place on earth”. In return, and with reference to the days and years following the arrival in London of the Empire Windrush in 1948, Levy points out how Britain has benefitted from the incalculable labour, enterprise, and creativity of black people. All of this has contributed to the development of Britain as a “sophisticated multiculture”.

The Empire Windrush, photo via Getty

So, why do people not know about Caribbean history ?

Levy is convinced that this is “A lost history for many of us”. This is, she believes, partly because it happened 3000 miles away, but more so because we are not taught enough in schools about slavery. We are taught more about William Wilberforce and abolition. There is still a need to understand what took place and what it meant. Even “bright, university educated people” have interviewed Levy and shown ignorance of Britain’s use of slaves in the Caribbean. Levy thinks this ignorance is commonplace, and that it is just too easy (presumably for white British people) to forget.

Racism and colour

This ignorance of history became apparent to Levy at an early stage in her life. She recalls one of the most basic forms of racism in being asked the question “why are you here ?” Levy adds that at the time she felt she owed an apology to the National Front, and that this led to self-hate. But Britain was her home. This was where she was born. Levy also refers to England as the Mother Country. There are echoes of Small Island here.

Levy talks a lot in this essay about the colour of skin and particularly the different shades of black, though notably avoids using the American term “colorism”. Early on in life, Levy was scared to call herself black and saw herself as white, continuing to do so until a surprisingly advanced age, when she was shocked and hurt on being obliged to join the black half of the room during a race awareness class. This is reminiscent of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s comments on not knowing that she was black until she went to America.

Writing and self-discovery

Having identified her complex relationship with colour as a problem that was stopping her from understanding herself and her place in society, Levy found a channel for self-development. “Writing came to my rescue”. Initially she benefited from writing about what she knew (i.e. her life in Britain) and exploring her background with words. But she also knew that “Being black in a majority white country comes with a myriad of complications and contradictions”.

Levy was helped here by visiting Jamaica and discovering more of her family and her roots, and feeling at home there too. Through this, she developed a greater understanding of her skin, her race and her culture. With this increased knowledge of her ancestry and the mixing of peoples, Levy became able to say “I can now happily be called a black British writer.” She knows that she and her family are “products of Britain” just as much as the white people in Britain are, and states “My heritage is Britain’s story too.” This is her story, and one that she draws on in her novels, stories, and essays.

Through her writing, Levy responds to the need to both express herself and to inform others. She is on a mission. “It is time to put the Caribbean back where it belongs – in the main narrative of British history”. In this essay and beyond, Levy affirms and celebrates the fundamental links between peoples and nations, and firmly sets out what it means to live together, however difficult their joint history has been.

Andrea Levy, photo via The Independent

Implications for Britain today

Quite simply, there is so much for modern Britain to consider. Perhaps the best place for us to start is for all of us to seek to better understand how dependent we are, and have been, on others. We also need to know how this dependence has led to insularism and cruelty. Levy calls on the historian Stuart Hall to make this plain : “Euro-scepticism and Little England nationalism could hardly survive if people understood whose sugar flowed through English blood and rotted English teeth”. Disturbingly, not only do certain groups of people in England / Britain not know about Black British Caribbean history, they do not want to know. This ongoing, often deliberate ignorance is damaging within society and across the globe. The truth must come out.

Reflections

Like millions of other British black people of Caribbean extract, Andrea Levy has more than one country to call her own. The journey suggested in the title does not have to be made. The journey, instead, has been one of learning and self-discovery. A journey to find and claim one’s rightful place in society in the face of challenging and oppressive circumstances. Levy calls on us all to realise that we are both the contributors to history and the products of history.

Important questions remain. Exactly how do we move on from here ? Knowing where we come from and establishing what links us together is not the same as eradicating racism. It is part of that process, and frustratingly we are not as advanced here as we need to be. Moreover, how do we measure progress ?

Levy is reflective and self-analytical in this essay, and combines the personal with the universal. In telling us about her own story and the story of her family, she also relates to millions of other people and to their experiences of Britain and the Caribbean. So many of these experiences have been shared, and there is so much that will help to join us together still.

© Eddie Hewitt 2015

Part two of Six Stories and An Essay - A Review : The Stories

Recent Posts

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction

A Spell of Good Things

An essay "Back to My Own Country" by: Andrea Levy. Trace Levy's...

An essay "Back to My Own Country" by: Andrea Levy. Trace Levy's...

An essay "Back to My Own Country" by: Andrea Levy. Trace Levy's overall argument and purpose and how she presents these.How does the author develop the central ideas in the text? record the paragraph number and specifice evidence. I need "6". In addition what is the objective summary?

Answer & Explanation

An essay "Back to My Own Country" by: Andrea Levy.  

1. Trace Levy's overall argument and purpose and how she presents these.

Overall Argument and Purpose

In the "Back to My Own Country," Andrea Levy delves into the historical foundations of racism and its effects on her identity as a black British writer as she explores the complexity of her Caribbean origin. The primary point of the argument is that in order to fully appreciate the rich and complex tapestry of contemporary British society, it is important that we acknowledge and realize Britain's Caribbean history, especially the legacy of slavery. Levy stresses the significance of breaking the taboo around this history and closing the knowledge gap about Caribbean contributions to Britain.

Purpose Summary

The purpose of Andrea Levy's reflections is to shed light on the difficulties her family had as immigrants in the 1960s as she grew up as a black British girl of Jamaican heritage. She writes about how racism affected how she saw herself and shares her journey toward accepting her Caribbean heritage.  Levy contends the history of Britain's relationship with the Caribbean, particularly the period of slavery, is too little known and ought to be included in the larger tale of British history. The author emphasizes how important it is to comprehend this common past in order to promote harmony and destroy misconceptions.

How does the author develop the central ideas in the text? record the paragraph number and specific evidence. I need "6". In addition, what is the objective summary?

Development of Central Ideas

Levy's contention regarding the significance of acknowledging and incorporating the Caribbean narrative into a more comprehensive understanding of British history and identity is supported by these key concepts taken together.

Racism on a London Bus (paragraph 2)

• Levy describes a day in her early years when she saw a black man alone on a London transport. Her early understanding of racial distinctions stems from this encounter.

The Struggles of Immigrants (Paragraphs 7-10)

• The author discusses the challenges her parents encountered as Jamaican immigrants, including housing, work, and the need to adapt in order to be accepted by British society.

Racism that is Internalized in the Family (Paragraphs 24-27)

• Levy reflects on how her family, who are fair-skinned, accepted a hierarchical racial structure from their upbringing in Jamaica. This led to a feeling of superiority and a desire to keep their distance from people who had darker skin tones.

Shame and Silences (Paragraphs 33-37)

• The author talks on how her family was pressured to fit in with British expectations, which resulted in their being silent about their Jamaican origin, feeling ashamed of their skin tone, and having their Caribbean heritage denied.

Rediscovery through Written Expression (Paragraphs 47-50)

• Levy attributes her rediscovery of her Caribbean background to her writing. She is prompted by her writing class to delve into her family history, which helps her to have a deep appreciation for the challenges of being Black in a predominantly White nation.

British Caribbean Historical Context (Paragraphs 68-72)

• The essay explores the Caribbean's historical background, highlighting the economic significance of British colonies powered by slave labor, the distinct social mix created by indentured laborers, and the enduring effects of racial segregation in the region of colonial era.

Racism on a London Bus (Paragraph 2): Levy recounts an incident on a London bus where a black man, likely from the Caribbean like her parents, faces rejection and isolation from white passengers. This exemplifies the racial tension in 1960s London and serves as the foundation for Levy's early awareness of racial differences.

Immigrant Struggles (Paragraphs 7-10): Levy details the struggles her parents faced upon immigrating to Britain, including the disparity between their middle-class background in Jamaica and the challenges they encountered in obtaining suitable housing and employment. For example, her father, once a clerk for Tate & Lyle, initially had to settle for a job with the Post Office.

Internalized Racism within the Family (Paragraphs 24-27): Levy reveals that despite being fair-skinned, her family internalized a class-based racial hierarchy inherited from British colonial times. This is exemplified by her mother's recollection of not being allowed to play with darker-skinned children in Jamaica.

Silences and Shame (Paragraphs 33-37): The essay discusses the pressure on Levy's family to assimilate quietly into British society, resulting in silences about their Jamaican roots and embarrassment about their Caribbean heritage. An example is Levy's mother avoiding any display of black identity to fit into the predominantly white environment.

Rediscovery through Writing (Paragraphs 47-50): Levy credits her writing course, where she explores her family's background and her complicated relationship with color, as a turning point. This is evidenced by her realization that her experience of growing up in Britain as a black person is part of the broader black experience.

Historical Context of British Caribbean (Paragraphs 68-72): The essay delves into the historical context of the Caribbean, highlighting Britain's role in colonizing the region, exploiting slave labor for economic gain, and perpetuating racial apartheid. For instance, the mention of the compensation paid to slave owners after the abolition of slavery in 1833 demonstrates the economic impact of the Caribbean on Britain.

       These examples and evidence collectively contribute to Levy's central argument about the necessity of integrating the Caribbean narrative into the broader understanding of British history and identity, emphasizing the impact of the past on the present.

If you have any clarifications about my answers, feel free to click the 'request for clarification' button, and I will be happy to help you. Thank you, and God bless!

Related Q&A

• Q Mark's Determination  When Mark was ten years old, he visited a fire station with his uncle. It was then that he decided... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Write bout Dawn Dish Soap in Brazil and Provide URL Links to each paragraph section Label Each Sections over Cultural An... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Design a set of 3NF relations  to support the generation of the sample report shown below.  The report reflects the acti... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Members of our own species are able to survive and reproduce in part because of habits, know-how and technology that are... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Although the European Union is the most advanced form of regional integration, it is currently facing a challenging time... Answered 72d ago
• Q Module: Operations research.   Discuss primary source of data  Give examples of primary sources of data Explain when we ... Answered 61d ago
• Q Pretend for a moment you are a non-human primate. Which ecological and environmental factors have the greatest potential... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Question 2(Multiple Choice Worth 5 points) (01.01 MC) Read the following stanza from "May Day" by Sara Teasdal... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Submit a draft quantitative Doctoral Study Prospectus form that includes the following: General Business Problem Specifi... Answered over 90d ago
• Q 1. 2.   3. 4.   5.  . The stock of Uptown Men's Wear is expected to produce the following returns, given the various sta... Answered over 90d ago
• Q 1. Why is service so critical in the hospitality and tourism industries?  2. What is the Disney service model?  3. What ... Answered over 90d ago
• Q For this Discussion Board, please complete the following:   Economies go through cycles of growth and contraction. When ... Answered over 90d ago
• Q I really need help with this assignment.. I don't understand what my teacher wants me to do.. it's an online course so r... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Please help me with your own knowlege.  I don't know the correct answer. I don't have the correct answer. just to let yo... Answered over 90d ago
• Q Stats for Psych 24EW3 Sulaiman Salaudeen 01/15/24 2:48 PM iew Quiz Question 8 of 8 This quiz: 8 point(s) possible This q... Answered 85d ago
• Q Human Behavior and the Social Environment answer the following questions :   1.  What was your general reaction to readi... Answered over 90d ago

Plot Summary? We’re just getting started.

Add this title to our requested Study Guides list!

My Own Country

Abraham Verghese

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1994

Plot Summary

Continue your reading experience

SuperSummary Plot Summaries provide a quick, full synopsis of a text. But SuperSummary Study Guides — available only to subscribers — provide so much more!

Join now to access our Study Guides library, which offers chapter-by-chapter summaries and comprehensive analysis on more than 5,000 literary works from novels to nonfiction to poetry.

See for yourself. Check out our sample guides:

Toni Morrison

Malcolm Gladwell

David And Goliath

D. H. Lawrence

Whales Weep Not!

Related summaries: by Abraham Verghese

A SuperSummary Plot Summary provides a quick, full synopsis of a text.

A SuperSummary Study Guide — a modern alternative to Sparknotes & CliffsNotes — provides so much more, including chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and important quotes.

See the difference for yourself. Check out this sample Study Guide:

• study guides
• lesson plans
• homework help

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS Summary & Study Guide

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS Summary & Study Guide Description

In the summer of 1985, a young man driving from New York to Johnson City, Tennessee, becomes ill and is taken to the Johnson City Medical Center - known to staff as the Miracle Center - where a nurse, Claire Bellamy, realizes that his condition is serious and calls for help. Ray, a pulmonary doctor, soon comes to believe the young man has AIDS and the staff is horrified at the possibility of exposure. Abraham Verghese, author and internist, comes to Johnson City later where he hears about the young man - the city's only real case of AIDS. Abraham soon becomes the area specialist on AIDS and the related symptoms, drawing patients from around the region as AIDS becomes more prevalent in the area.

Abraham's first AIDS case is the brother of a young nurse named Essie. The young man, Gordon, has lived away from home for a long time and was already sick when he returned home. Essie immediately recognizes the ravages of the disease and calls on Abraham. After Gordon, Abraham begins seeing AIDS patients on a regular basis. These include Ed Maupin and Bobby Keller. They are gay and live together and both test positive for AIDS. Ed soon gives in to the disease and though Bobby urges that there be no heroic measures, Ed's brothers refuse to allow that, and Ed is on a ventilator for a short time before dying. Bobby lives for some time but dies before Abraham leaves Johnson City.

Abraham comes to realize that at least part of his discomfort is a fear that he doesn't have the roots that so many of his friends exhibit. Abraham also comes to realize that he is lacking the concrete faith in God exhibited by others, including a man named Will Johnson who was infected during a transfusion after a heart attack. Will declares a complete faith in God. As Abraham treats Will Johnson and his wife, Bess, who has also been infected, Abraham comes to realize that he has not been nearly as unbiased as he'd believed himself to be. Though Will could easily have become angry at the disease, he tells his son that no one - regardless of their sins - deserves this disease.

Abraham is soon the primary care physician for some fifty patients, and he begins to have problems on several fronts, not the least of which is the fact that his marriage is in trouble. By now Abraham has two sons and his wife, Rajani, feels that Abraham hasn't set his priorities so that his family takes an important role in his life. In fact, Abraham has come to the point that the constant struggle of dealing with the virus and its victims is weighing heavily on him. He eventually leaves Johnson City for a less stressful job in Iowa, hoping to give himself and his family a chance to recover.

Read more from the Study Guide

FOLLOW BOOKRAGS: