Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch

[@vishy]

Watched this for 2 minutes and saw enough to conclude this is one of those politically correct narratives. I’m British Asian and speak from experience regarding people sometimes struggling to fully identify me as British. It’s just a fact of life and one needs to get over it. You are in Britain, a primarily white country. So when you have brown skin it’s natural to trigger intrigue regarding where you are from. Over analysing the intention behind people usually asking “where are you from?” is a futile exercise. It’s natural and choosing to get offended is the worst thing you can do. Just deal with it with grace, maybe even take it as a compliment as you’re getting noticed and triggering intrigue. Or even better, see yourself as a global citizen and a humanist first, and don’t take Britishness so seriously that you pine for a sense of belonging that is akin to pack mentality. It’s a waste of time. Be yourself and accept human nature for what it is. You are entitled to be offended by genuine nastiness or discrimination for sure, but don’t get offended by basic human nature or being overly politically correct. It’s no good for honest interactions and building trust. Let people be themselves and you will have a greater impact on changing societal attitudes.

[@andrewjoyner4133]

Vishy Slightly ironically when I go to India I get asked where I am from all the time.

[@johanswede8200]

Asians have confidence in their history. Blacks don't.

[@ReLLaKaT316]

Absolutely wonderful comment👏

[@itstime6495]

Im British, I'm Norwegian,I'm African, I'm German Jewish, I'm Ghanaian - whats it to be Afua ??

[@krystjanchanerley9288]

Jewish

[@robster9667]

I understand that if you're mixed race you feel like you don't have much of an identity. However, that does not give you the right to make out that native British people are not entitled to be native Europeans living in Europe, or should be made to feel guilty about it. That is our identity, in the same way Japanese people on Japanese soil are Japanese, both culturally and racially.

[@amonduul2154]

Hirsch is not very british. She us german on the fathers side and ghanaian on the mother side

[@theenglishman9127]

It’s not you feel like you don’t have much of an identity. It’s that the identity you claim/acknowledge is questioned by those who feel they have more of a right to that identity. Since you don’t look like them, you can’t possibly have the same identity and therefore, you’re an imposter. That is the point at which you then question your own identity, ‘If I don’t belong there, then where?’

[@erikzoe1]

At what point does she make out that native British people are not entitled to be native Europeans living in Europe, or should be made to feel guilty about it?

[@bigearedmouse17]

This is the woman who said "The English have no reason to feel patriotic"

[@bigearedmouse17]

Doug D; Initially I was feeling Patriotic about the fact that the UK has been a lifeboat for genuine refugees for thousands of years, But now that you have mentioned all of this other way cooler stuff am awash with not only Patriotism but Nationalism as well. My labour party membership is going in the bin, and my application for PEGIDA UK is in the post. Thankyou so much for your blinkered and incredulous view of my Proud country. ( see you on the Battlefield).

[@bigearedmouse17]

Is you Mad Bro ? Is you American Bro ?? Is you mixed race and confused Bro ??? Is you a Left wing Antifa student type Bro ???? So many questions Bro, So little time...

[@7john7able]

OMG did she really say that. I think we should have a collection for her and buy her some History books. If we have nothing to be proud of what on earth do Africans have to be proud of they didn't even manage to invent there own language or the wheel !! They did come up with the idea of selling there fellow humans to White people as slaves in exchange of European made goods which was there idea and the first Europeans refused the deal until they realised they could work in the fields in America. Maybe black people can feel proud of that ? It was a smart move in the long run for black people because there is no way they would have ever been able to make a boat and sail around the world on there own. Maybe she also thinks that only reason Europe is wealthy is because of the slave trade ? And completely forgets we where more wealth and advanced than them before the industrial revolution or the slave trade. She is one of them people that twist events and history to suit her own strange view of the world its called political correctness or lies.

[@andrewjoyner4133]

Doug D Thanks so much for completely unbiased and non one-sided history lesson. Makes me feel so proud

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

Jesus H Christ. Get in the sea

[@pumpkinpatch5]

Afua Hirsch. An identity crisis and privilege wrapped up in one awkwardly grinning package.

[@aafgahfah]

She fell in love with someone to whom it transpired she had close cultural and ethnic ties, yet she has somehow failed to draw the stunningly obvious conclusions from her own experience and apply them to the question of Britishness and homogeneity.

[@Necrophadez]

Personal experience informs nothing of what ought be or why such a thing exists. Idiot.

[@Necrophadez]

edward quigley It is not my opinion it is epistemologically true. It is a fact that the only thing personal experiences can inform you of are what you have personally experienced. Nothing more... Personal experience or anecdotes are not a substitute for facts, data and studies. It does not tell you of trends that are occurring, it does not tell you why they’re occurring, it does not tell what you ought do about it. You're uneducated anti-intellectual take on the matter does not substantiate your position with facts. Sorry... 😐

[@Necrophadez]

edward quigley That’s not a rebuttal to what I have said that’s just an emotional reaction because you don’t like what I said. I know to someone uneducated it may ‘feel’ like the same thing but it really isn’t. Come now, I know you can do better. Try again.

[@Shaolin-Jesus]

@@Necrophadez "Personal experience or anecdotes are not a substitute for facts, data and studies. It does not tell you of trends that are occurring, it does not tell you why they’re occurring, it does not tell what you ought do about it." was slavery not as much a fact as much as it was and is it a personal experience? suddenly, it appears now you are the one who must "' 'substantiate their position with facts' " "come now, i know you can do better, try again" necrophilia?

[@benharrison704]

I asked a white guy where he was from the other day because he had a southern accent. I was asked where I was from yesterday because someone thought my accent was more Manchester than Hull. People ask each other that question all the time.

[@andym9571]

Exactly. I was talking to a black guy last year who was adamant he wasnt getting anywhere on Tinder because he was black. Neither am I ! ( I'm white ). Too many people think there is racism everywhere when there isn't.

[@Grangran0160]

It’s something we all do it’s a good way to start a conversation if you are going to get offended over that question you need to grow up and act your age, I bet she hasn’t had many dates that is generally the first thing they ask where you from what’s your name, sounds as though she would freak out over that, trying to say it’s racist well white people ask other white people where are they from it’s Normal

[@aafgahfah]

In fact I wonder why she hasn’t accused herself of racism for being attracted to someone to whom she has ethnic ties, as that seems to be her underlying critique of white brits.

[@tsu8003]

Kinda ironic that a penguin is both black and white!

[@Ad_Astra2023]

So bizarre that so many of the commenters below don't seem to understand the point of this author's speech. One can only speak from their own experiences, I get that but it's quite astonishing to see how much others don't care enough of others if you're not in their shoes. For those who told her to "go back to where you came from", she was exactly talking about this shitty attitudes you've got there. She is a British, hence she has no other place 'to go back to'. She belongs right here just like any other Brits who own the nationality. All she wants is to be treated the same as them. What's so hard to get, really?

[@urvanhroboatos8044]

Sorry, I may be born in Shanghai, but I'm not a Chinaman.

[@aafgahfah]

And yet she found love with someone from her immediate genetic and ancestral locality, having felt alienated from the great majority of British/English people she grew up around? What does that tell us? Should she not be the first to understand why many ancestrally native British people are uneasy at the growth in numbers of peoples in Britain from whom they will in feel alienated? What has happened in Ms Hirsch’s life to her will happen with increasing frequency in the lives of members of all ethnicities in Britain, the more multi-ethnic it becomes.

[@itstime6495]

Absolute crap. She claims to be Norwegian, Ghanaian, German Jewish !! She would be the first to kick off over a white colonisation of a black country.

[@alaboah4720]

​@aafgahfah what's happening to the likes of Afua and Brits in general are the unintended consequences of colonialism. The colonial "subjects" have found "home" in Britain.

[@amonduul2154]

In Ghana erverybody would ask her where she comes from.

[@philipbrackpool941]

Listening to her accent I simply don't believe she's asked regularly where she's from.

[@BellEndBrass]

Afua Hirsch is another pseudo intellectual ethnic . In common with many others of her ilk, Afua Hirsch is a person who has enjoyed the benefits of living in Britain while simultaneously taking every opportunity to deride it. Furthermore,in this speech and many other interviews, it is clear that she enjoys being 'other' and different, which is why she talks about it in such a narcissistic way.

[@andym9571]

She gets insulted by people asking where she is from ? I used to work a lot in London and EVERYONE including black people thought I was Australian. I was born and bought up 10 miles away. Was I insulted ? .....NO !!!

[@amonduul2154]

Hirsch is german/ghanaian. She is a multiethnic person with german jewush and ghanaian christian roots

[@joannechisholm4501]

She keeps saying that she is British but all I hear is anything but

[@johanswede8200]

Go to China and discuss their chineseness😣!!! Good Luck! They would just shake their head and continue making money...

[@hugo2216]

Her entirely selective perspective is misguided at best.

[@hannahelcock1785]

Afua think your abit over the top with racism not many people are racist now a days theirs nothing wrong with being black or white we are both the same

[@emit9462]

shes out for money to keep her in her safe bubble one day that bubble will pop

[@ngongogongo6685]

afua hirsh is African not British

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

What gives you the right to dictate someone's identity?

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

Such as...? My mother is English, her mother was Welsh and her father was English. My father was born in England but his father was Scottish and his mother was Welsh. My Great Grandmother was Spanish. I was born in Germany. What nationality am I please? Thanks

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

more to the point, what national identity do you permit me to prescribe to?

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

You haven't answered my question. My first question was what nationality am i? And my second was 'what identity do you permit me to prescribe to? If you'd care to answer either of those rather than chatting away with yourself. Who said I moved around as a child? Where did I grow up? Where do I live now? I don't know how you've come to the assumption that I moved anywhere as a child? Secondly, I'm not confused about my own identity. It's my own and I'm entirely comfortable with it. I asked what nationality and you've listed 'European'. Europe isn't a nation, so well done on that one. You seem to be struggling with the question. I'm not denying anything. If Benedict Cumberbatch, for whatever reason, felt most resonance with the Japanese identity, why does it make any difference to you? If I'm born in Germany, raised in Germany, have never left the country and never been to Britain, why should i consider myself British just on the basis that my parents were born there? You are aware that there's a hyphen in the middle of Anglo-Saxon, yes? You understand why that hyphen is there and what that means and implicates for your 'Britishness', yes? We're all mongrels, 'Britishness' is an identity not a blood right.

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

I can assure you, I am not confused. I have an incredibly strong self-awareness of my own identity and it bears no resemblance to what's written in my passport. You seem to think people should be 'institutionalised' for sharing an affinity with a culture or nation to which they personally identify. That seems incredibly paranoid on your behalf. As for 'ethnic Britons', please expand. I mentioned I have Spanish blood in me, as does my father, yet you labelled him British. So is he British or Spanish, by your understanding of the terms? And why is this so important to you? Why are you so paranoid about identity, what difference will it make to your life or the future of nations if identity is fluid and held in the eye of the individual rather than those looking at the individual? As for my name, my surname is Scottish, my first name is Hebrew. You don't know who my ancestors were or where they were from so making assumptions about pre-history seems somewhat ignorant. I have a thorough understanding of identity, more so that you, it seems. I'm aware it's fluid, changes dependent on your distance from home, who you're talking to, where you are or your relationship with your family or place of birth. I'm not rootless, I am very self-aware, self-possessed and have a positive relationship with my place of birth, and regional identity. You assuming to be able to make any assessment of my identity, my ancestry, You also appear to have a confused notion of 'America's philosophy'. American society is bread on 'the other'. If you want to look at blind patriotism, racism, abject fear and notions of 'other', look no further than the American constitution. I hope you manage to open your mind a little further as I can't imagine being so fixed in your philosophical values and social understanding can lead to a very rewarding or stimulating life. I hope one day you open you eyes.

[@Wtfman-o5h]

Hello Afua, where are you from? (Said the white man). That's racist. Hello Afua, where are you from? (Said the non-white man). That's not racist. Double standards for non-white people? That's racist. FYI I'm mixed race, so I can't be racist...yippee free pass for meeeeeeee

[@sholacharles9167]

You've clearly misunderstood what Afua said and have a poor understanding of how racism is defined. She was describing a form of micro-aggression that black people and other people of colour face constantly in majority-white spaces. White people ask non-white people where they are from because they assume, from your race, that you are not a citizen of England, America etc. It's the assumption, in this case, that Britishness = whiteness. Racism is defined as the systematic oppression of a race or group of people, so you're correct a mixed-race person cannot by definition be racist however, this doesn't eliminate the possibility of discrimination or prejudice occurring. Try formulating an informed response before obtusely commenting on something you clearly lack an understanding of.

[@Wtfman-o5h]

@@sholacharles9167 I believe racism to be a form of discrimination by using someones culture or heritage as a pre-requisite of judgement before you've even met the person within. If you agree with the aforementioned principle of racism, then you are, by vertue, a racist, because in your previous reply you assumed certain characteristics about me because of my cultural heritage. I quote: 'a mixed raced person cannot by definition be racisted'. How the hell do you know I don't have a swastika tattooed on my forehead you absolute ignorant plum. Stop adding 'black' or 'white' or anything else in front of 'person'. Stop causing a divide. Take some responsibility and do some good in your own community before pointing fingers at others by helping to reduce the statistics on black UK: knife crime in young male youths, fatherless children and child care benefits, joblessness and drill music... which is a predominantly black lead music industry and linked to black on black crime/post code wars/county drug lines. 99% of the time people are not prejudice against the colour of someones skin, but they are predjudice of the terrible gang culture which has driven the problems in the black community on a worldwide level, and idiots like you and Afua who want to blame everyone else before taking a long, hard, look to see how you can stop young people being influenced into acting, walking and talking like a gangster rapper, are making the problem worse and aren't helping to fix it. Start helping the situation by eliminating the root cause, and stop dividing people by pointing the finger at others.

[@pyrexldn1348]

Afua talk on lybia slave trade still selling African people to this day

[@amonduul2154]

Lybians, Syrians etc. are also trading jezidic and christian arabs

[@petewyllie9889]

I've seen this woman a few times now and don't understand why on earth she resides in Britain, she has nothing good to say about our nation and goes on and on about racism of which she clearly is!!! She is free to leave the UK and wouldn't be missed at all, all the time people like her are given a voice racism will keep burning bright, but who really are the racists now? I wonder 🤔

[@andrewjoyner4133]

Ok Afua You are ethnically half black and half jewish. You're nationality is British. You're welcome.

[@Smartychase]

andrew joyner she can duck off and I am black

[@Sparta-yy6we]

Why state your point, and then state what your race is??Why don't you just make a point??

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

Err, wut? Please provide a precise quote for her playing 'victim'. thanks.x

[@andrewjoyner4133]

Hannah Rose Well she seems to making a good career out of 'playing victim'

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

As I said, please provide a precise quote for her playing 'victim'. thanks.x

[@RA-wp6th]

I feel like this speech would have been more impactful if it didn’t feel like her identity is defined by who she’s married to.

[@2490debrick]

If she doesn't like it here in the UK she can always sod off...

[@rahulkemp8347]

but what if she has phobia about going to countries with malaria?

[@AaaAAA-jv6ds]

@@rahulkemp8347 let her go to somewhere that has yellow fever then

[@rahulkemp8347]

@@sinistertantrum7653 be nice!

[@chonnerone2964]

English or British people just answer with the town they are from... no need for all that bull shit about where are you reeeally from.

[@chesterdonnelly1212]

Little rich girl problems

[@wstevenson4913]

A con artist and a clever one at that. She should try this stuff in Ghana I don't think they would buy it

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

How anyone can be offended by this is beyond me. Nobody owns or can dictate anybody else's identity. Britain is multicultural society of its own making, how and why anyone would feel threatened or offended by an individual who grew up in Britain exploring the complex issue of identity in this nation is beyond me. Aside from freedom of movement, we imported citizens from the colonies for the slave trade and offered them the right to citizenship on their liberation (frankly, it seems the least we could do). We imported citizens from India and Africa to fight in our wars for us, and again offered them the right to citizenship here afterwards. We also did this under the pretence that India would be freed from sovereignty if they supported us in war, but let's not get into that here. Why does it then bother anyone within the UK if someone with a diverse heritage yet having been born in this country, within this culture and having called Britain home for their entire life identifies as British? Who does it harm? What difference does it make to anyone? And why the hell shouldn't they be British? As far as I can tell, this is an important and urgent piece of writing and if the topics discussed make you uncomfortable, perhaps you should engage and read the actual book.

[@bigearedmouse17]

Hannah Rose; The UK is made up of Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh. People who come here from any other nation can call themselves British if they want, But not any of the above.

[@Hannah-wu5lp]

By 'people who come here from any other nation', do you mean first generation only?

[@bigearedmouse17]

By "Britain is a multicultural society of its own making" do you mean we all had a vote to allow foreign nationals in ? No! we did not. The UK has been a lifeboat for over a thousand years. Well, the lifeboat is full.

[@casparwilkie-siddique9677]

If you're born and raised in Scotland then you're Scottish, same for all the others. It doesn't matter if you're first generation and not white. At what point in someone's genetic history do you classify them as wholly Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh? Because, for example, Irish genetics can be traced back to Northern Spain and English back to Rome, France, Germany and Scandinavia.

[@casparwilkie-siddique9677]

David Vere because there’s a difference between nationality, ethnicity and cultural identity, which you obviously don’t understand and have conflated the three. Comparing a known ethnically homogeneous country to Britain in an attempt to make our argument seem absurd is lazy and ignorant. Black people have been in this country since the 3rd century. We’re a country who’s economic success and political power is built on the enslavement of Africans, the exploitation of colonised land resources and the attempted eradication of different cultures and people all over the world (not just ‘brown’ countries - what we did to Ireland was just as bad). The reason people from former colonies came here in the 40s was to maintain the economy after the severe depletion of the labour force after WW1 and WW2 (Indians and Africans also fought with us in both wars). People of colour have helped build, defend and maintain this country so they absolutely have the right to identify as British. Since you don’t understand that, it’s up to you to educate yourself and not tell people that you have more right to your national identity simply because you are white and they are not.

[@Thegirlinthosehats]

WOW! THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS COME FROM ALL THOSE WHO CANNOT HANDLE THE TRUTH - SAD & PATHETIC! IT IS VERY WELL WRITTEN AND INFORMATIVE. THANK YOU AFUA!

[@scotlandboy3107]

You will never be English or British.

[@kpatino6197]

Love the book

[@craigcassidy6078]

Can't take her seriously,

[@annprince5298]

Thanks for coming .What we want to get over in this campaign, the book what campaign ,I thought it was a book tour, not a campaign as such what is going on? British is a word denoting people who come from Britain generally should not be anything else ! It is a rather silly asking people where they come from !, I did it with middle eastern because I was interested in whereabouts they lived in the area

[@kholidrobiuliansyah5631]

She's literally complaining about being rich

[@gael33444]

nice vidéo

[@wlee3140]

My god she has such a chip on her shoulder.. seriously need to get over herself

[@urvanhroboatos8044]

A chip? Hhahahhhh....

[@AaaAAA-jv6ds]

a mountain on shoulder

[@jaquesravalec242]

Non.

[@levaroi]

WTF je comprend r

[@lefandufcsm3360]

Oh la gueule de la vidéo

[@theejojobee]

She’s speaking the truth that MANY people don’t want to hear. She definitely has my support!

[@jamesmason8436]

Do you think so? As an educated black man I'm quite embarrassed by her and most of her work.

[@theejojobee]

Michael James As an educated black woman I couldn’t be prouder. We can agree to disagree though 🤷🏾‍♀️

[@romainvicta3076]

I love people asking me where im from - I think people are too sensitive

[@Olamide298]

Afua you are amazing!!

[@elmariachi6611]

my name is Afua but mine is pronounced { ef-wa }

[@shamanicrevolution2204]

Afua is so likeable and sweet, it's a shame she is obsessed with identity politics.

[@tworealms]

Proud of you Afua 👏🏾

[@markseymour1975]

Who cares about what your national identity is? It's so petty and unimportant. I'm British because that's what it says on my passport. My identity may be similar or vastly different to other people with the same passport. Get over yourself and just be a good person. Stop searching for this intangible identity that has no real significance. There are good things that British people have done and some bad things. But I take no pride or shame in any of them, because I don't own them. I only take pride in my actions. And my identity is the one I shape for myself.

[@casparwilkie-siddique9677]

Xenophobic and racist people care about national identity when they say things like "go back to where you came from". It's easy to dismiss the importance of national identity if it has never really affected your way of life. But for non-white people it is a big deal because, like she said, they are often made to feel alien in their own country simply because of the colour of their skin. I agree it would be great if we lived in a world where a person's nationality, race, sexuality or gender were trivial but, sadly, we don't. But the only way of achieving that is through open dialogue and not shutting the conversation down because you think it's unimportant.

[@markseymour1975]

Caspar Wilkie-Siddique I am non white. And I have suffered lots racism in the past But I now do not care how racist people define me. By listening to someone who judges me by my skin colour or race gives them a recognition to their backwood thinking that frankly is beneath me. If their words and opinions effect me I empower them, and it is something I refuse to do. My nationality, Colour are to me no more important than my height. They are all things that I have no control over that were an accident of Birth. And I know there is no chance of shutting the conversation down because so many people revel in their identity that they would not have it any other way. If I encounter racism or prejudice that comes in the form of discrimination then I will challenge it. If not people can think what they like. The fact we keep talking about identity race and nationality, will insure the conversation will continue. But to what end?

[@esseff6481]

Alan brown a lot of us care. It’s neither petty nor unimportant. I do wonder why some people have the time to comment if only to be negative?

[@markseymour1975]

Ess Eff I know a lot of people people care. Otherwise I would not be giving my opinion on it. If I disagree with someone's opinion then I suppose you could call that negative. The same way people disagree with me. I don't just walk up to people and give my opinion. I'm just responding to the views given on this video. Having grown up in Britain and having gone through the same issues of not knowing what my identity was being mixed race I totally understand what She is saying. But I have now come to the conclusion that I worried too much about not being recognised as British, and that certain people would not see me as such. I have now totally changed my mind, for the reasons I give above. It has worked for me, maybe it would not work for others. Maybe it sounded too harsh. If so, I apologise. I just wanted to give my thoughts. I'm not just someone who posts negative comments for the sake of being negative. Who knows my mind could be changed again.

[@esseff6481]

Alan brown ok, I hear you. It’s just when you say ‘who cares’ it’s as if you’re trying to speak for a majority. But I now see that wasn’t your intention.

[@beardtrick]

What a vile woman

[@stephenamerak994]

All the hateful comments on this video are absolutely deplorable. I commend her efforts to educate people. Good on her! As a black person who's lived in Canada virtually their whole life, I hate being asked where "I'm from" because it makes no sense to me. Rather, ask me my ethnicity and I will gladly divulge. Where I'm from and what my ethnicity is do not connote the same thing and I hope non-POC can one day grasp this.

[@colinkingswood]

stop labelling disagreement "hate".

[@shenelclarke]

So proud of you Afua Thank you

[@tsu8003]

What are you proud of exactly?

[@gjc9076]

Ms Clarke your a bloody idiot.

[@AaaAAA-jv6ds]

nobby clarke your now knob head clarke.

[@archivedvideos3907]

Piers made you look silly 😂😂😂

[@casparwilkie-siddique9677]

I'm so glad ideas like this are getting discussed more and more these days. Defo giving this book a read

[@PeterSmith-ls7ut]

Black card woman

[@colinberry707]

Keep up the the good work Afua Hirsch...

[@hunkydory1973]

Great. I will keep my eye out for the book

[@sinistertantrum7653]

Remember to look in the bargain bin, because thats where You will find it.

[@slapdashdumper]

Apparently it's a Penguin publication ....you know , that black & white one......................oh the irony !

[@slapdashdumper]

along with James O'Briens "How to be Right - in a world gone wrong"............I know, I found one - mint - 10p

[@Manormouse-04]

What a lovely young lady. Such a sweet story about discovering a deeper connection to her partner.