For example, when George Floyd was assassinated by US police in May 2020, British protesters and commentators argued that racial relations here were equally toxic and that police racism was the same in Manchester and Minneapolis. TV shows such as The School That Tried to End Racism sought to copy and paste American political theories about “white supremacy” into children in south London. And the American obsession with the culture of healing that the Sopranos sent to New Jersey 20 years ago has since been bought in bulk by the British Educational Institution, which encourages pupils and students to embrace the term “prosperity.” Some problems may be common. can there be parallels? but we and America are not equal, and it is lazy to assume that we are. In addition, pretending that the wars of American culture are universally applicable is likely to be misleading. To take Sterling as an example, Morrison is one of the great American award winners and a student would love to read her writings for all reasons, but will not tell you much about the specifics of British racial relations – at least because class plays a much bigger role in understanding Britain’s modern history. Someone like Dickens or even (ironically) Austen would be more informative – or, if you like, a living novelist, Kazuo Ishiguro, whose vision as a Japanese-British writer allowed him to give insight into British class tensions in novels. such as The Remains of the Day (1989).
