| George
Alagiah was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Ghana. His family
came to Britain in the 60s. This is his story, going to school
in Portsmouth (where his friends were all white and teased
him in the shower room for not having a summer tan) and gradually
discovering his immigrant identity. 'It crept up on me - this
feeling that I wanted to be Sri Lankan again. Or, at least,
allow Sri Lanka to be a part of me again. This is not about
citizenship. I am British. This is not about allegiance. I
am loyal to Queen and country. This is about a feeling. How
do you account for what I can only call an umbilical connection
with a place you have left over forty years ago?' And this
feeling is also something Alagiah examines more widely, looking
at how immigrant experiences have differed in Britain in the
post-war years, how multiculturalism has led to ghettos and
failure, and how we should celebrate our immigrants both through
their civilising values and economic necessity. Alagiah's
A HOME FROM HOME can be read as the moving sequel to A PASSAGE
TO AFRICA or as a stand-alone autobiography of the immigrant
experience.
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