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The Hate Race 9780733632280 Books

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The Hate Race 9780733632280 Books

I brought this on the basis of a good review in The Economist and was not disappointed. The description of school life tallies with my experience a decade before. Highly recommended.


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The Hate Race 9780733632280 Books Reviews

“I learned to stay quiet. I learned that nobody much cared. I learned that it was probably my fault anyway, and that what they were doing to me was perfectly okay. This is how it alters us. This is how we change.”

Having also grown up in suburban, middle-class Australia during the 1980’s and 90’s, Clarke’s memoir brought with it a flood of memories – bubble writing, hypercolour t-shirts, BMX bikes, Baby Sitters Club books, Saturday morning Video Hits. These memories for me, however, do not come weighted down by fear and hatred and shame; they are not associated with name calling and taunts, bullying and isolation, stone throwing, spit balls, hiding in the toilets at school.

Clarke’s memoir is a must-read – a powerful and, yes uncomfortable, story of how casual, overt and institutionalised racism caused longstanding effects on one young Australian.

Clarke’s story begins with the 1976 emigration to Australia from Britain of her parents, both of Afro-Caribbean descent. At a time promising great change – the White Australia Policy had not long been dismantled and immigration was encouraged – they arrived to a suburb where neighbours stared and whispered in surprise that a black couple had bought inside the village, and what’s more, their English was perfectly spoken. Bordy and Cleo soon settled in, had three children and their home was a place of love and laughter.

Maxine’s first day of pre-school, in 1983 at the age of four years, sadly brought to an end her carefree view of the world, and introduced her to a world no four-year-old ever should be exposed to. Her innocence was lost the moment a young classmate looked Maxine up and down and whispered ‘You… are brown.” That was the first time Maxine had ever felt deficient; she had been aware of the difference in skin colour between her family and almost everyone else they knew, but had never felt there was anything wrong with that before.

It only got worse from there.

Maxine very quickly learnt that school was a battlefield she would have to brace herself for each and every day. She learnt also she could not rely on adults in position of power who should be there to protect and support her; the responses of her teachers and principals to her reports of bullying and racism were atrocious – they were ignorant, dismissive and complicit.

Take this exchange between Maxine and her grade one teacher, when she was to stand in front of the class and introduce herself, before questions from her classmates (only the dialogue included for brevity)
Teacher “Where are you from?”
Maxine “From my mum’s tummy”
Teacher “That’s not what I meant, Maxine,” … “The class is interested in where you’re from, Maxine”
Maxine, racking her brain and answering tentatively “From my mum’s… vagina?”
Teacher, as the class broke into laughter “You rude girl, you know what I am asking. Why are you being so insolent? What country were you born in?”
Maxine “This one.”
Teacher “Oh. Well… where are your parents from?”
Maxine “They came here from England.”
Teacher glaring at her again.
Another child responded “They’re not from England. My nanna’s from England and your parents are not like her.”
Teacher “I want you to go home and ask your parents where they’re from, and you can come back and tell us properly tomorrow.”
Next question from a classmate “What do… people like you… feel like?”… “… do you have normal feelings… like normal people do?”

This is a five-year-old girl we’re talking about.

A five-year-old girl who doesn’t yet realise the colour of her skin is the feature by which others will define her. A five-year-old girl who knows she is Australian, but who doesn’t yet realise that others don’t see her as really being Australian. A five-year-old girl who is only just starting to learn that her brown skin means she is different, and for others this difference is not something to be desired.

This is heartbreaking.

Is it any wonder there is so much fear of the different and the unknown in our world; that adults can treat each other the way they do; that adults can have such strongly and deeply held beliefs and can be so inflexible and resistant to seeing things from another perspective; when four- and five-year-olds already have such strong prejudice ingrained in them, before they even understand what it all means.

The Hate Race is a powerful story that bravely, openly and honestly addresses racism in Australia – a country that prides itself on it’s multiculturalism. It is uncomfortable to read, but important, relevant and timely.

The message is clear – racism in all it’s forms, casual, overt and institutionalised, is rampant in our country, although the majority are somewhat sheltered by their white privilege.

Yes, this memoir does focus on the time period of 1980’s and 1990’s and times have changed. Our nation is more multicultural than ever, and incidents of racism are more frequently and more openly being discussed in the public arena.

But it does still continue to this day.

Despite this rather gloomy truth, there is hope. People can learn and can change. We can teach the younger generations that differences are not to be feared, and that there are many more similarities between us than differences.

This book is a significant addition to the arsenal against racism and towards acceptance and understanding.
Well-written memoir from one of the new stars of Ozlit - she's young, she's smart, she's suffered and she's black - well, as she tells it, Brown. The story of her family's origin, arrival in Australia after life in Britain's vibrant West Indian community, and her subsequent struggle to fit into a far flung semi-rural suburb north west of the city moves along briskly through pain to triumph. But how the common everyday racism hurts!News flash! Any kid who wasn't pure vanilla copped it then and maybe still does. Nothing to do with race, everything to do with Difference!
And it was so much worse in the seventies. Out there beyond the inner city fringes kids were mercilessly bullied for being hippies, atheists, artistic, intelligent, not athletic, disabled, for wearing glasses or just looking ugly. That's not to minimise the pain it caused young Maxine but one wonders why on earth her father who was employed at a University would have chosen to settle his family in a place like that. I liked a lot about this book in spite of my unease. There's a kind of special pleading abroad lately though, almost a manipulative dishonesty that is guaranteeing literary recognition for the young, the female and the suffering. Really, get over it!
This is a story we need to hear about racial predjudice in Australia however it is not particularly well written .
A modern classic. This story is about family relationships, race relations and migration. From a recent past when life seemed simpler.
Well articulated memoir. I was a Sri Lankan school girl growing up in Perth WA in 1976. I didn't allow the comments and the remarks scar me. teachers at my school were not like in the book. they were well travelled and enlightened. I got nothing but support.
I am saddened Maxine feels that way even now.... but I think is just ignorance and not thinking in the part of individuals...hold your head up high your a human being first...reminds me of the Desiderata... like the trees and the stars..you have a right to be here...
Colour is only skin deep like beauty.
What we contribute to the Earth is what is important.
I devoured this book and I sincerely cannot wait to read it again. It's a memoir of moments, but interwoven between the all-too-familiar childhood (I'm a similar age to the author) are the aggressions - micro and large, individual and institutionalised - of racism in Australia during the 1980s and 1990s. The writing is absolutely spectacular and the stories are so very important. I recommend it to everyone - but especially teachers who can take an awful lot away from this fabulous book
I am not an avid reader. However Maxines story is one that captivated me. As an Aussie white person it was confronting and provided me with a great insight into the feelings of others, especially those of a minority group. Thanks Maxine for sharing your story, the highs and the lows, your periods of doubt and most of all your achievements. Thank you.
I brought this on the basis of a good review in The Economist and was not disappointed. The description of school life tallies with my experience a decade before. Highly recommended.