Previous
Prologue
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Hate Race, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racial Discrimination in Australia
Racism, Childhood, and Loss of Innocence
Race and Beauty Standards
Injustice and Complicity
The Power of Words
Summary
Analysis
Maxine introduces her parents, a Black British couple who came of age in the seventies and eventually moved to Australia. She opens their story with an anecdote of her grandparents proudly admiring their first-born son and Maxine’s future father, Bordeaux Mathias Nathanial “Bordy” Clarke, for successfully completing a Ph.D. in mathematics and commanding respect from their local community. Bordeaux immigrated to Britain with his parents from Jamaica at a young age, and now commands respect in the Black British community for being one of the first to obtain a degree from a British university. Maxine explains that Bordeaux and his parents were part of the first wave of West Indian immigrants to Britain in the 40s. Although life has not been easy for them in Britain, Bordeaux serves as proof that the country has opportunities for Black immigrants.
Maxine’s decision to open the first chapter of her memoir with the story of her parents allows her to contextualize her own life by showing where she comes from. The anecdote about her grandparents also shows the state of London’s Black British community, where Bordeaux’s Ph.D. is an achievement not just for his family, but for the entire neighborhood. Although Bordeaux’s accomplishment signifies potential for the community, it also subtly highlights the community’s struggle, where a Black British person earning a Ph.D. at a British university is still rare.
Themes
Maxine recounts a family anecdote where a father dragged his young child to meet Bordeaux and ordered him to kiss the man’s feet, showing how respected Bordeaux was in his community. During this time in Bordeaux’s life, he also marries a Guyanese actress named Cleopatra. Their time in Britain is fraught due to racial strife, both domestically with violent race riots in London, as well as internationally due to crises like Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination and South African apartheid. In Britain, politician Enoch Powell stirs up racial animosity against Black people, and the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party wins the general election in 1970. Even so, Black immigrants and their children have formed a strong community in London.
In addition to portraying the community her parents grew up in, Maxine also positions the earlier years of her parents’ lives in the historical context of the time. This history is not just national, with the increasing social strife in Britain, but global, as seen by the suppression of and violence against Black activists like Martin Luther King, Jr. in the U.S. and Nelson Mandela in South Africa. In this way, she links the personal and political, illustrating how, as Black British people, Bordeaux and Cleopatra’s lives are inextricably linked to changes in the national and global racial climate.
Themes
Bordeaux is offered a teaching position in Britain, but the country’s economy is stagnating. A couple that Bordeaux and Cleopatra are friends with soon move to Australia and encourage Bordeaux and Cleopatra to do the same. The couple is reluctant due to Australia’s racist history of murdering black Indigenous people and limiting non-white immigration with its White Australia Policy, as well as more recent declarations from Australian politicians reaffirming the prioritization of white Australians. However, their friends reassure them that the country is seeing significant racial progress.
Although Britain has its own major problems with racism, Bordeaux and Cleopatra’s reaction to the prospect of moving to Australia emphasizes just how deep the latter country’s culture of racism is, at least as viewed by the Black British community. For the young couple, it’s a case of the devil they know versus the devil they don’t: Britain is a racist country, but Australia potentially holds challenges they haven’t yet learned how to handle.
Themes
Despite political tensions in the country, Bordeaux is offered a teaching position at a Sydney university. They ask him to provide a photo with his documentation, but Bordeaux declines out of fear of discrimination. Later, he schedules a meeting in London with a professor from the university. Once again wanting to avoid discrimination, Bordeaux describes himself only with his clothing to help the professor find him at the meeting place, and the other professor does the same. When they meet, Bordeaux discovers that the other professor is Chinese Australian. As the couple prepares to move to Australia, others in the community—including Bordeaux’s parents—are surprised at their decision due to Australia’s reputation as a racist country.
The surprise ending to Bordeaux’s meeting with the other professor leads to a moment of solidarity and relief, but it also portends the struggles the Clarkes will encounter in Australia. Like Bordeaux, the Chinese Australian professor has learned to avoid sharing a photo of or giving a physical description of himself, suggesting that he has also faced racism in academia. This shows how racism is not unique to either Britain or Australia: both teach people of color to constantly be vigilant against discrimination.
Themes
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