{"id":2568,"date":"2017-02-07T19:54:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T14:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=2568"},"modified":"2020-04-04T16:14:57","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T10:44:57","slug":"good-immigrant-edited-nikesh-shukla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/good-immigrant-edited-nikesh-shukla\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good Immigrant Edited by Nikesh Shukla – An Angry and Relevant Book"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Good Immigrant<\/em> is a collection of 21 essays by persons belonging to black, Asian and ethnic minority communities of UK. It has an angry tone throughout, sprinkled with humour and sarcasm and is overall a fascinating read. Long review short \u2013 Please pick a copy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here is the Goodreads blurb to give an idea about the book \u2013 In his editorial note, Nikesh Shukla quotes Musa Okwona in his essay The Ungrateful country<\/em>\u2013<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c\u2026Society deems us bad immigrants \u2013 job stealers, benefit-scroungers, girlfriend-thieves, refugees \u2013 until we cross over in their consciousness, through popular culture, winning races, baking good cakes, being conscientious doctors, to become good immigrants.<\/em>” <\/p>\n What caught my attention and made me curious about the book was this quote doing its rounds on Twitter, <\/p>\n I was sold. It was as if someone was speaking my mind about chai tea, the often used incorrect term. (Well, so is \u2018chai latte\u2019, \u2018chai tea latte\u2019 and the like. Latte is a coffee drink made with steamed milk. So what you mean when you say \u2018chai latte\u2019 is \u2018tea coffee milk\u2019 or something along those lines. PS : Latte in Italy will get you a glass of milk).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I found it very interesting to read about experiences of Indians who are greeted with \u2018Namaste\u2019 by some white people. (In case you are wondering why this is a matter of concern, we say \u2018hello\u2019 in India. Namaste is used occasionally, but not when you meet a stranger on the road. We know and understand \u2018hello\u2019. On a normal random day it is \u2018hello\u2019.) The book has several examples of misuse of words and culture mainly rising from ignorance and xenophobia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are so many passages that I underlined in the book. If you read these essays, please sit down with a pencil; read them and think about them.<\/p>\n A Guide to Being Black<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My Name is My Name<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You Can\u2019t Say That! Stories Have to Be About White People<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You give them your CV and hope to get offered extra work, non speaking parts of the prostitute, drug dealer or dead girl. You get a part as an extra in a prison riot scene, it pays the rent that month.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The essays bring to life the depth of discrimination that exist because of a difference in a pigment in one\u2019s skin \u2013 something that a human being has no control over. Some essays are personal and heart felt while some are of a more general nature. All of them are angry, fuming and spit truth on your face in a way that makes you uncomfortable. I loved how honest the voice is, in each of the essays. If you have lived in another country for a part of your life, you can relate to the book. I sure could relate with so many essays though not at such harsh levels. It is funny that I have come across such incidents in my own country while staying in a state different from my native state and not when growing up outside India. This is not just funny, but a harsh reality that struck me even more after reading he essays. Such discriminations are present even at grassroots within one\u2019s own country (among educated folks, mind you); so how much greater would it be for the immigrants who have made their home in another country?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shukla admits that most of the contributors knew each other. So the essays are mainly from personalities in media\/entertainment and the immigrants in other fields and their experiences are not included. This was the only flaw I found in the collection, that the book is titled \u2018The Good Immigrant\u2019 but many fields where immigrants have contributed are ignored. But twenty one essays is the right size for the book \u2013it was not too long and not too short, so perhaps this restriction is a reason for the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you are not a white person, you should read this book. If you are a white person, you should read this book. Highly recommended. <\/p>\n Title : The Good Immigrant <\/p>\n Disclaimer : Much thanks to Unbound for an e-copy of the book. All opinions are my own.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Good Immigrant is a collection of 21 essays by black and ethinic minority persons …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6307,16],"tags":[431,404,402,9442,401,77],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlurb<\/h3>\n
\nHow does it feel to be constantly regarded as a potential threat, strip-searched at every airport? Or be told that, as an actress, the part you\u2019re most fitted to play is \u2018wife of a terrorist\u2019? How does it feel to have words from your native language misused, misappropriated and used aggressively towards you? How does it feel to hear a child of colour say in a classroom that stories can only be about white people? How does it feel to go \u2018home\u2019 to India when your home is really London? What is it like to feel you always have to be an ambassador for your race? How does it feel to always tick \u2018Other\u2019?<\/p>\nReview<\/h3>\n
\nNikesh Shukla adds \u2013 \u201cAnd we are so tired of that burden.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cChai means tea. Chai tea means tea tea. The number if times you see this on a menu makes you wonder why people can\u2019t be bothered to do their research. Like naan bread too. Bread bread.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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In<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
, Varaidzo speaks about children of a mixed descent \u2013 \u201ca mix of races is to be raceless\u201d. It is thought provoking when the essay mentions that hairstyles that are meant to keep Afro hair neat and healthy are considered wacky and not accepted in professional settings.<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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In<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
by Chimeme Suleyman who mentions incidents where she is met with statements as \u201c How can a child who speaks like you have a dad that speaks with that ridiculous accent?\u201d and she makes the conclusion \u201cStandardisation is the backbone of the Empire, after all.\u201d<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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, asks why Chinese are called the \u2018model minority\u2019 in America.<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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The title of Darren Chetty\u2019s essay,<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
speaks for itself. There is a touching incident about Verna Wilkins, publisher at Tamarind Books, whose son comes home with a self portrait which he had painted bright pink because the teacher distributed only that colour.<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Kieran Yates angrily points out that \u201cFrench accents are sexy, intelligent, Americans cool and culturally appropriated; Indians are comedic\u201d in his essay.\u201d<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Riz Ahmed puts down how different and annoying the visa formalites for immigrants are in Airports and Conditions.<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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is one of the angriest essays in the collection, evident from the below quote \u2013<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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\u201c<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Final Verdict<\/h3>\n
\nThe Good Immigrant<\/em> is published by Unbound, a crowd funding publisher. You can check more of their projects or pitch your idea or support a book through their website<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nEdited by : Nikesh Shukla
\nPublisher : Unbound
\nPublished : 2016
\nLanguage : English
\nPages : 256
\nRating : 4\/5<\/p>\n