One of Them Quotes

“He is still there, standing a few yards from where I passed him about an hour ago. He has been waiting for me, in the hope that I would return the way I came. He looks up as the bus approaches and his eyes meet mine again, but this time there is not hate, there is almost warmth. He smiles at me and shakes his head a little – Well played – and then he unzips his jacket, hooking his thumbs into its folds so that he can pull it apart and show me what is in there. His jacket is lined with a patchwork of colourful cotton squares, and each of them displays a swastika. They are various different colours and sizes: red, white and black; yellow, black and purple. The man grins up at me: Good work, you got me this time. The bus rolls up the hill and away, but that image will always stay with me, along with the thought of what might have happened if I hadn’t spotted the hate in time.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them

“The man’s eyes only meet mine for the briefest time, but they have already shown me enough. I am walking to visit the optician with my sister one summer afternoon when the man passes me; he is coming from underneath the railway bridge, near the pub with the chalk marks on its walls, and all the way through my appointment I won’t be able to stop thinking about his stare. It is as startling as scalding water.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them

“Shamelessness is the superpower of a certain section of the English upper classes. While so many other people in the country are hamstrung by the deference and social embarrassment they have been taught since birth, the upper classes calmly parade on through the street and boardrooms to claim the spoils. They don't learn shamelessness at Eton, but this is where they perfect it.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them

“For one thing, I know that my accent is a visa. When I enter a place where the presence of someone who looks like me is uncommon, I make sure to open my mouth as soon as possible, so that they will be reassured by this indicator of my social class. It is comparable to the reaction I get when I am travelling through some parts of Europe and I produce a British passport - I am suddenly not one of those Africans but one of Us, a member of the Western world, an infinitely safer prospect.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them

“For all my struggles with self-confidence, I am always reassured by the knowledge that I have been raised in an education system where everyone makes it.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them

“The greatest proof of my status is my uniform. Every single day I go to class in clothing that many men wear only once in their lives, if at all: a morning suit, identical to the clothing of a bridegroom. It consists of a black tailcoat, a black waistcoat under which I wear a white shirt with a starched collar and thin white cotton tie, a pair of black pinstriped trousers and black shoes. By the time my teens are over, I will have worn one of the smartest outfits in anyone's wardrobe hundreds of times. The effect of this is that, when I put on a business suit for work or any formal occasion, I look as relaxed as if I am wearing a pair of pyjamas.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them

“No one here ever tells us out loud that we Etonians are natural leaders: that is what the architecture is for. In one of the rooms, where students gather now and then, I find the mounted bust of every boy who has gone on to be the leader of the country. My boarding houses look like government buildings.”
― Musa Okwonga, One of Them