The Big Issue - UK (2020-03-02)

30 | BIGISSUE.COM 02-08 MARCH 2020

CULTURE

|

BOOKS

W

hatdoesittaketomake

itinmodernBritain?

Aska politician,and

they ’lltellyouit’shard

work.Aska millionaire,andthey ’ll

tellyouit’stalent.Aska CEOand

they ’lltellyouit’sdedication.But

whatif noneofthosethingsis

enough?Whatdoesit therefore

meantobesociallymobile?

Weliveina societywherethe

singlegreatestindicatorofwhatyour

jobwillbeisthejobofyourparents.

Wherepowerandprivilegeare

concentratedamongthesevenpercent

ofthepopulationwhowereprivately

educated.Where,if yournamesounds

blackorAsian,you’llneedtosendout

twiceasmanyjobapplicationsasyour

whiteneighbour.Andif yourhealth

outcomesearlyonarepoorandyou’re

homeless,thismakesmatterseven

moredire.

I knowsomethingaboutsocial

mobility.I ama barristerwhowas

raisedonbenefitsandattendedsome

ofthelowest-performingschoolsin

thecountry,intheroughanddeprived

LondonboroughofBrent.

InPeopleLikeUsI arguethatfar

frombeingtypical,myownstoryisan

anomaly.Ratherthansomething

whichcouldbeemulatedbyothersin

Britaintoday,it isanexceptionwhich

bringstheruleintosharpfocus.

ThesuccessIhaveachievedis

farfromeasilyattainabletothevast

majorityofpeopleoutthere;and

that’sbecausesucha successisusually

determinedbytheparentstowhom

you’rebornandthecircumstances

whichdictateyourdestiny.

Attheageofnine,I arrivedinthe

UKasanunaccompaniedchildrefugee

whohadjustburiedhisfather.Not

understandinganythingaboutthenew

countryI wouldcallhome,I barely

spokeanyEnglishandwascompletely

disoriented.I grewupmovingfromone

squalidcouncilaccommodationtothe

nextformostofmychildhood.

Attheageof 18 I foundmyself

homelessandlivingina Centrepoint

hostelincentralLondon.I hadtowork

steadilyunderdifficultconditions,with

noguidanceastowhata realfuture

wouldlooklike,andlearningformyself

first-handtherequisiteculturaland

socialcapitalneededtosucceed in

Britain’s top professions.

Illustration: Joseph Joyce

ChildrefugeeHashiMohamed

is nowa barrister.Buthesays

thatin modernBritainthisis an

increasingly unlikely scenario

AUTHORFEATURE

Glum vision

Ultimately,I amtellinganindividual’s

ownpersonaljourney;notnecessarilyone

whichisready-madeforthosewhowish

toemulatemysuccess.I amcandidabout

whathasworkedformeandI implore

individualstothinkhardaboutwhatworks

forthem;including,controversially,to

changethewaytheyspeakif theyfeelit

wouldhelpthemgeton.

I amconvincedthatit isinpartluck

thatallowedmetorealise,veryyoung

(andwithoutbeingdispirited),boththe

limitationsofthecardslifehaddealtme

andthepossibilitiesofferedbythemas

well.Itwasmyluck,again,tohavehadthe

intellectualcapacity,thephysicalhealth

andtheabsenceofimmediatepressureto

ruthlesslyfocusoncreatinga betterfuture

formeandmyfamily.I waslucky,also,to

meeta seriesofmentorswhoguidedme

throughthenewworldsinwhichI found

myself.Toputit anotherway,if I genuinely

believedthatwhatI haveachievedand

overcomewaspossibleforanyone,thenI

wouldhaveprofoundlymisunderstoodthe

overarchinglessonofmylife.Therefore,if

you,orsomeoneyouknow,hassucceeded

againstalltheodds,pleaseletgoofthe

ideathatallthat’srequiredissomehard

workanddeterminationforotherstodo

thesame.

Therealityremainsthatforayoung

refugee boy, who buried his father at the

ageofnine,arrivedinBritainwithouthis

mother,andwasbroughtupinpovertyand

amongprofounddeprivation,thechances

thatyouwouldbewritinga booklikePeople

LikeUsareminuscule.Notimpossible,but

highlyimprobable.

Inthatcontext,whatpoliticiansshould

reallybesayingisthis:thechanceofyou

succeedinginBritaintodayisdownto

manyfactors:thewealthandprofession

ofyourparents,thekindofschoolyou

attended,yourmentalandphysicalhealth

andthequalityofyourearlyenvironment,

intermsofstabilityandattention.

You’llneedtoworkharderthanyouever

imagined– andhopethatwhatever

talentsyouhave,giventhefast-paced

developmentofautomation,aregoingto

stillbeneededwhenyougrowup.You’ll

needa lotofluckasyougo;andlet’shope

that,alongtheway,someoneexplainsthe

unwrittenrulesoftheworldyouwantto

join.Andyou’llneedtomakeit throughall

thatwithyourbeliefinyourself– andyour

visionforthefuture– stillintact. And then

• maybe – you’ll make it.

PeopleLikeUs:WhatitTakes

toMakeitinModernBritain

byHashiMohamed

isoutnow (Profile Books,

£16.99)