Black and British: A Forgotten History, from the acclaimed historian and star of 'Celebrity Traitors'

by David Olusoga

It is plausible that in their biographies some black Britons, Equiano, James Gronniosaw, Mary Prince, omitted accounts of racial abuse in Britain because they were trifling compared to the experiences they had known as slaves in the New World, or because they wanted to express their affection for Britain and conceal their disappointments. Equiano’s biography saved its ire for the slave trade and slavery, not British racism, but perhaps he was prioritizing and choosing his battles. Eighteenth-century Britain was a ferociously xenophobic society in which it was extremely unwise to appear disloyal or unpatriotic, and black British writers tended to stress their loyalty to Britain. Phillis Wheatley praised the King and Sancho commended Britain’s war against the North American colonists.64