A story of migration, identity, and belonging, based on the narratives of people from Audrey Osler's family of mixed heritage over three centuries. The British deserve a better understanding of our common past and opportunities to explore and recognize the complexities and contradictions of the empire. Neglect or willful oblivion has allowed the narrative of British migration to begin in the mid-twentieth century, with migrants from India, Pakistan, and the Caribbean forming the basis of modern multicultural Britain. Racist obsession means that some contemporary Britons imagine that people of color appeared after World War II with no connection to the country, in order to exploit the British welfare state and British hospitality. For people of color, the questions "Where are you from? No, where are you really from?" often imply more than simple curiosity. They are political questions of identity, as the assumption is that to be British and to belong you must be white. Audrey Osler states: "The British Empire frames and shapes the story of my family. Whether born in Britain, like me or my father, or in some other distant British territory, like my mother, we all continue to experience the legacy of this same empire and the impact of its ambitions, politics, and economy. The history of my family, back to the eighteenth century, in each generation, is a story of migration in different directions, prompted by war, education, a global economic crisis, a new beginning, love, and even child abduction. The stories I recount here reveal as much about Britain as they do about the countries of the British Empire. This is not just my story, but it clarifies the largely abstract history of a nation and its citizens, both people of color and white people.
Pages: 224, Year of Publication: 1126, Dimensions: 12.6x12.6cm
