Читать книгу No Win Race. A Story of Belonging, Britishness and Sport онлайн

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My partner once said to me, the only thing that exists is the way people see ‘race’. See me. Limit me. I’m frustrated knowing that Britishness for many people isn’t blackness. Well, Britishness nor Englishness isn’t blackness. I veer between the two. My experience, the experiences in this book, are English. But the Empire state of mind is British.

Yet for him, my son, ‘race’ will affect his life chances. For him, my son, the playing field will also look extremely different to mine. He does not see colour. But people see his colour. As he gets older, those perceptions of his colour will become more vivid, more twisted, more restrictive.

So how do I prepare him for a society that, on the surface, is great, functions well, provides opportunities; a society I am glad to be in, yet I also understand will disadvantage him due to the colour of his skin? How should I impart knowledge without sinking his confidence? How do I achieve this without giving him my baggage, without afflicting? Without infecting?