About the Author
As soon as Dillibe Onyeama was born, in January 1951, his father put his name down for Eton, the UK’s most prestigious and expensive private school. No black child had gone there, but his father, a senior judge in Nigeria who had studied at Oxford, wanted him to have the best education he could possibly afford. Onyeama did go on to receive a fantastic education – and made history as the first black person to complete his study at Eton College. But the personal cost was staggering. Follow @DillibeOnyeama on Twitter,
About the book
Afro-Saxon is the follow-up to the highly controversial book ‘A Black Boy at Eton’, published early 2022 by Penguin. Dillibe Onyeama was the first black boy to complete his education at Eton in 1968. Written at just twenty-one, it was a deeply personal, revelatory account of the racism he endured during his time as a student at the prestigious institution.
He tells in vivid detail of his own background as the son of a Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, of his arrival at the school, of the curriculum, of his reception by other boys (and masters), and of his punishments. He tells, too, of the cruel racial prejudice he suffered and his reactions to it, and of the alienation and stereotyping he faced at such a young age.
‘A Black Boy at Eton’ was a searing, ground-breaking book displaying the deep psychological effects of colonialism and racism, and the follow-up ‘Afro-Saxon’ tells more about his story and experiences in a white dominated society.
Review
It's fair to say that a system built upon white supremacy and a clear structure of a class system that always cements the paths of certain people in success, will only reluctantly allow it to be infiltrated by the very bodies upon whom the house of wealth was built or for them to take a seat at the table.
One has to ask oneself why the memoir of one man could be so egregious that any connection between himself and halls of the future elite had to be severed completely. Being faced with truth, the experiences of a young man, who will forever be marked by the cruelty driven by the colour of his skin.
British society is deeply rooted in the colonialism and white supremacy it was built upon. Old habits die hard, and white privilege is really difficult to acknowledge when you have no other lived experience to compare. The only way to do so is to listen, learn and change. Engage when racism rears its head and confront the stereotypes and daily bias.
This is a hard-hitting memoir, perhaps more so because the author also wades into the complexity of belonging neither here nor there when you rise from one social, geographical or cultural circle and enter one you're not welcome in and are also no longer really part of where you began your journey.
It's a complex, emotional and eye-opening read - definitely one I would recommend.
Buy Afro-Saxon at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Quadrant Books; pub date 1 Mar. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.
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