White Teeth Lesson Plan

The second section of the novel opens with a quote from Norman Tebbit, a conservative member of parliament. He casually proposes a "cricket test" for immigrants: whom do they cheer for, their home country or their adopted one? What does this "test" seek to address? What assumptions about immigrants are built into this idea?

On one level, Tebbit's proposal could be read as something very democratic in that it elevates something "popular"—sports—to an important marker of national identity. Belonging, one might imagine, is the same as fitting into a popular trend. On another it makes full assimilation—acceptance of English cultural markers—the primary criterion for...