Summary

“We’re not Jews” by Hanif Kureishi starts with Azhar and his mother, who are riding the bus home from a meeting with the school teacher. Big Billy and his son Little Billy catch up with the bus and get in. The meeting with the teacher was about Little Billy bullying Azhar and calling him names.

During the bus ride, Big Billy and Little Billy constantly make offensive and racist remarks about Azhar and his mother, and about the fact that the woman (who is white) married a Pakistani man. The mother tries to ignore them at first.

Azhar recalls that his mother and Big Billy have known each other since she was little. Azhar also recalls how his mother began to notice that he had started to come home from school upset because Little Billy called him names. At first, she tried teaching Azhar how to defend himself, but this had only helped Azhar for a brief period.

The father and son continue to offend the mother, and she defends herself a...