IN WHICH The Girl is an American

Hey look, I'm actually getting through my summer reading list. I finished Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah a couple days ago, appropriately leading up to our most American holiday. We are about to embark outside in our red, white, and blue to sing about freedom and celebrate independence. All good things. But Adichie's book is a useful reminder that America the beautiful will pretend our many faults don't exist on this and most other days.

One of the book's characters asks, “Why did people ask "What is it about?" as if a novel had to be about only one thing.” And Americanah certainly pokes at many issues - immigration, race, love, identity, hair. Adichie may even try to take on too many things at once, as the narrative becomes a bit long and cumbersome. However, the novel mainly tells the story of Ifemelu's emigration to America during college and return to Nigeria many years later. Adichie looks at both countries, particularly the United States, with a scathing critical eye. 

As an immigrant, Ifemelu can see and discuss our flaws, particularly race, more clearly than most native born Americans. Race in America both fascinates and repels her, so she starts a blog called Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black. The novel and its blog reveal what America looks like to outsiders, and it's not always pretty. One of the biggest conundrums Ifemelu witnesses is how Americans try so hard to appear politically correct and open minded, to the point of claiming race is no longer an issue here.

“The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matters. But we don’t talk about it. We don’t even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off and the things we wish they understood better, because we’re worried they will say we’re overreacting, or we’re being too sensitive. And we don’t want them to say, Look how far we’ve come, just forty years ago it would have been illegal for us to even be a couple blah blah blah, because you know what we’re thinking when they say that? We’re thinking why the fuck should it ever have been illegal anyway? But we don’t say any of this stuff. We let it pile up inside our heads and when we come to nice liberal dinners like this, we say that race doesn’t matter because that’s what we’re supposed to say, to keep our nice liberal friends comfortable.It's true. I speak from experience."

Despite the harsh truths her characters spout, you can still feel a love for America peeking out from the novel's corners. America becomes one more piece of Ifemelu's identity by the time she moves back home to Nigeria. Sometimes reading Americanah can feel a little more like attending a lecture than reading a novel, but it is an enjoyable lecture. So for this 4th of July, keep your eyes clear and your hearts full - as Coach Taylor would say.