With his new book Symeon Brown examines the aspirational Black middle class

What does the rise of Britain’s Black middle class tell us about class in modern Britain? That question sits at the heart of The Good, the Black and the Boujee, the latest book from journalist Symeon Brown. Drawing on more than 1,500 interviews in what has been described as the largest-known data study of Britain’s Black middle class, Brown investigates a community that has gained unprecedented visibility and influence while navigating a rapidly changing social and economic landscape. The result is an examination of class, aspiration and identity, and a contribution to debates about the future of Black Britain. We spoke to Brown about the book’s findings and the questions they raise for publishing.

The Good, The Black and the Boujee describes itself as a “critical reckoning” with the pursuit of Black excellence. What first prompted you to interrogate the idea of Black excellence and the realities of Black middle-class life in Britain?

I was trying to reconcile two contradictory events that defined the past 10 years: the Black Lives Matter protests and the proclaimed Black renaissance that had celebrated a wave of so-called Black excellence. Alongside the protest movement was also the most racially diverse government in history and a Black political class openly in conflict with Black grassroots campaigns. It has been an era of paradox. So has the past decade been a feast or famine of opportunity and progress for Black Britons? I believed the answers lie in understanding social class which is often invisible in Black experience.

Can you tell us more about the book’s central argument?

My book is about what class reveals about Black Britain and what Black Britain reveals about class in the 21st century. My general argument is that a Black middle class has emerged for the first time as a class group within a racial group, rather than as a racial minority within a class group – just as the entire middle class itself is collapsing due to the rise of super-wealthy elites. You may have a degree, earn an upper-middle income and have elite entitlements, but if you cannot buy a house where you were born and have less security than the last generation’s traditional working class, what does this mean?

There is also an insurgent right-wing politics of race opposed to Black social mobility that is bubbling on both sides of the Atlantic. The rest of the book is a colourful ethnography of emergent sensibility, gender divisions, the fluidity of modern Black life and a consideration of the new politics of race.

One of the most striking findings from your research is that almost half of educated Black professionals read fewer than five books a year. Why do you think that is, and what responsibility does the publishing industry have in addressing it?

[It’s a] scary stat for someone trying to sell their book. I think all people don’t read like they once did and social media has ruined our attention spans. What people would have once sought from books, they seek on podcasts – which is crazy, considering how low-quality podcasts are. That said, in publishing the over-production and under-editing of books does not help either. Sadly, books are in transition from mass media to a luxury item. The hardback of my book is nearly £25. Mad. Book inflation is scary. Although I will add, after five years of research and writing, readers are definitely getting something of value from The Good, the Black and the Boujee. 

Who do you think is still missing from conversations about Black Britain in publishing and journalism?

This book is both social history, but also fundamentally a critique made in good spirit. I think we need a higher standard of literary criticism and a higher threshold to pain. As long as the critique is rigorous and made in good faith, I welcome any disagreement with this work by peers. I think we need a culture that has the expertise to really engage critically with our work – its accuracy, value and contribution. The journalism challenge is different: it is fundamentally about funding models because the talent and curiosity is there. In publishing more broadly we need better critical engagement with work so all of us can improve our pen game and thinking. If you do not like the book, please say and be clear as to why, but make sure your receipts are strong. The only thing worse than bad writing, is lazy reading. 

Having spent years researching The Good, the Black and the Boujee, what gives you optimism about the future of Black Britain?

I think there is a concentration of cultural and social capital in Britain that is unparalleled in Europe. What a great base to build on. 

Are there particular questions or areas of British life you are interested in investigating next?

This book stressed me out, so I am enjoying Arsenal’s summer as Premier League champions at the moment.