The Secrets of Statecraft This Is Not America: A British Conversation On Race with Tomiwa Owolade | Andrew Roberts | Hoover Institution
Jun 16, 2026
Tomiwa Owolade, author and Times of London columnist known for This Is Not America, argues Britain needs its own race conversation separate from American frameworks. He critiques imported identity-politics, explores cultural cringe and social media’s role, and warns about institutional bias, sectarian risks, and the erosion of a shared civic culture.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
British Race Dynamics Are Not American
- British race issues differ from US patterns and can't be mapped directly by American frameworks.
- Tomiwa Owolade notes most Black British people are recent immigrants or children of immigrants, unlike Black Americans descended from enslaved people.
UCL Letter Prompted A Counterargument
- Owolade responded to a UCL student letter accusing the faculty of racism by deconstructing its pitfalls.
- He objected that the letter treated Black people as monolithic victims and attacked the English canon as inherently racist.
American Terms Distort British Debate
- Importing American terminology skews British debate when terms don't fit local reality.
- Owolade highlights BIPOC and 'indigenous' as American categories that misapply to Britain and distort discussion.
