Summary

Andrea Levy’s article “This is my England” begins with a brief introduction in which Levy states that she is English, although other English people sometimes make her feel unwelcome because she is black and her parents are from Jamaica. Levy then recounts a visit to New Zealand, where a boy told her she did not look English – he thinks a white New Zealander looks more English than she does.

Levy then talks about her father, who left Jamaica in 1948 on the Windrush ship, because he felt he had no future in his own country. He was looking forward to going to England. His wife followed shortly after, even though she had doubts about their new life. They were both treated badly in England, where they encountered racism, were offered poor housing, and had to do low-skilled jobs even though they were over-qualified and spoke English.

Levy talks about her childhood, explaining that she received an English education – just as h...