Being black in the US vs the UK: There's a big difference | Alvin Hall | Big Think

Being black in the US vs the UK: There's a big difference | Alvin Hall
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Author Alvin Hall is a huge award-winning financial advisor and broadcaster in the UK, despite being born and raised in poverty in Florida. He feels, though, that he wasn't able to break through in American media because America, he feels, still has a lot of inbuilt racial prejudice. He posits that since he doesn't fit into the narrowly defined idea of what a financial advisor should look like in the U.S., he fell through the cracks and didn't get a fair chance. In the UK, on the other hand, "they'll give you the opportunity— even if it’s the opportunity to fail, but it’s an opportunity that you can turn into success."
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ALVIN HALL:

Alvin Hall is an internationally renowned financial educator, television and radio broadcaster, bestselling author, and regular contributor to magazines, newspapers, and websites.

For five years on the BBC, he hosted the highly rated and award-winning series, “Your Money or Your Life,” on which he offered both practical financial and psychological advice to people about how to take control of and fix their financial problems. His radio program, Jay-Z: From Brooklyn to the Boardroom, won the Wincott Foundation Press and Broadcasting Award for the best radio program for 2006. Hall has also hosted programs on current events and contemporary art for BBC Radio 4 including After Katrina and most recently, Alvin Hall’s Generations of Money. An eight-part television series for BBC World News called Alvin’s Guide to Good Business was broadcast internationally in 2010. In the US, he is a regular contributor on personal finance and the economy on NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin.

Among Hall’s bestselling books are: You and Your Money: It’s More than Just the Numbers, Your Money or Your Life (winner of the WHSmith 2003 People’s Choice Award), What Not to Spend, Getting Started in Mutual Funds 2nd Edition, and Getting Started in Stocks 3rd Edition. His children’s book, Show Me the Money, has been published in over 20 foreign-language editions. In the US, the book has been named a Best Children’s Book of the Year (2009) by the Bank St. Book Committee, which is run by the Bank Street College of Education. It was also named a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (2009) by a joint project of the National Book Council for Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council.

Hall lives in New York City where he designs and teaches classes about the investment markets for financial services companies, banks, regulatory authorities, as well as information and technology vendors. His acclaimed classroom programs and speaking engagements have provided thousands of people with a solid grounding in such topics as the workings of financial markets, investment products, effective investment strategies, reducing debt, planning for retirement and personal financial management. Alvin Hall is a member of the NYSE Euronext Financial Literacy Advisory Committee to help develop programs to improve knowledge about all aspects of personal finance among the general public. He is also on the Acquisitions Committee of the Studio Museum in Harlem.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Alvin Hall: Two facts. One, I define myself as a black man first, because that’s what you’re going to see when you look at me. Being gay is something I define myself second, third, I can’t decide really. But it’s not everything I am. It’s a part of a complexity that I am. And that’s not backing away from the fact that I’m gay. It’s just that there are other aspects of my personality which are much more important to me and how I negotiate the world.

My career in the UK and other parts of the world really came about because someone there saw my talent at being able to talk about money, personal finance, cultural issues, and my curiosity, and opened the door for me. I don’t think that I would have had the same opportunity in the United States.

Why not? Partly because when people look at me they don’t see my skill sets and they’re always filtered through their own prejudice.

In the UK and other parts of the world – not all but many – people will give you credit. They’ll give you the opportunity— even if it’s the opportunity to fail, but it’s an opportunity that you can turn into success.

I don’t think that what happened with my career in the United Kingdom would have happened for me in America. I don’t think that the affection that the people in th...

[reverendbluejeans]

When you came to England, they see you as an American first.

[mikesaunders]

He is not being racist in any way, he is merely pointing out the fact that there is a more tolerant attitude in the UK than in his home country.

[MichaelSmith-bnhm]

Here in the UK it's more a class thing than race

[hubamarxx]

I remember being in Paris, in one of the subway stations, I accidentally walked very close behind a french white lady (she saw me) but she never once flinched or grabbed her purse. I'll never forget how pleasant that felt for once not to be looked at as something "other", like in the states.

[djcandle]

As an American, that has traveled all over the U.K., I understand this sentiment to exact precision. For whatever reason, my skills and talents are rejected in America, however those same skills and talents are glorified in the UK. The British have a deep and found respect for talent and skill and as an American it’s very much appreciated.

[MihaiPinzariu]

Superb monologue!
As a white dude from Romania that i am, i have worked with black men from both societies and i have to say that there is a huge difference between the cultures, the black men from USA tend to be a little bit more intimidating but that's just a defence mechanism that society pretty much programs into you, but once you get to know them and they know you percieve them as just a black man, as an adult, as a friend or a father to someone they are really warm hearted people and really cool to hang with and learn alot of stuff.
Props to you sir for showing others how they need to change their society.

[hion]

We Brits do have a fondness for a well-spoken gay.

[maaan]

As a Brit I swell with pride hearing this

[London_miss]

Many black Americans do great in finance positions in the UK.

And, a few black British do great in America.

[juuk]

Very true, I'm a mixed guy and have lived in Zimbabwe, South Africa, UK, US and Denmark. I have never had as much anxiety just from existing when I was in the US, where i lived i couldn't walk about outside past 11 without a cop asking me where I'm going and what I'm doing, the healthcare was also stressing one bill and I would be crippled financially.

[irefi]

The fact that he is American probably works to his advantage in the UK as well, but he is right, it is a better place for us black people than the US.

[Whoelsebutjones]

I’ve tried to explain this phenomenon to my family since they live in both the U.S. & UK. It’s been my direct experience.

[yedis]

Thank you man. As a brit I feel like that we are being attacked from all sides at the moment. It's nice to hear someone say something kind about us.

[jlawson]

As someone that’s grown up in London and then rural England, I’m still surprised to see how socially segregated people of different cultures and communities are in the US. Since I was a kid I’ve just seen people as people and nothing else. Sad this mindset isn’t as common in the states

[beckyzwhite]

I’ve loved Alvin for years. His show on the BBC years ago helped me curb my reckless spending and set me on the road to solvency.

God, bless him. He saved my life. xxx

[charybdisontherocks]

I am mystified by some of the comments here. Alvin didn't say anything about communism, neither was he racist about white people. In Britain, when he appeared on our screens he was an instant hit for his warm personality, his great sense of humour and his clear non-judgemental way of explaining to people how to manage their finances.

Here he is explaining the difference between how black people are perceived in UK and US. Many PoCs have said the same. It's not because Americans are bad people, it's the legacy of slavery. Sure, Britain made money off the slave trade but slavery was not a part of the basic economy and we didn't have a civil war over it. The US has a lot of healing to do over the race issue. We all thought it was the end of it in the Sixties, then we thought it was the end of it when Obama was elected. But it just goes on and on.

[ravioliravioligivemethefor]

Britain focuses more on class than race. In the county I live in, being white is the minority & my county isn’t the only one. As well as this, where exactly I live is FULL of people from all different parts of the world. The difference is, we’re all grouped together under one label of “working class benefits cheats” and looked down on/spoken to poorly cause of that. Me, a white British born girl, is seen in the same light as my neighbours, a Slavic man, a lesbian couple & an Indian man, because of where we live.

Classism is the big issue in the uk.

[paulwusteman]

Alvin's programmes in the UK were really interesting and entertaining. He is very, very good at what he does. Aspects of recovery from Covid would be a useful topic for him to tackle.

[davidosalsero]

Alvin Hall is a good and genuine person.

[illizcit]

I wonder if we will ever be able to have a comfortable, reasonable conversation about race without people discrediting others.
None of us has any idea what another person's experiences are like. Why is it preferable to attack what they say rather than listen? They dont understand your experiences either, should they attack you out of lack of empathy and ignorance?