The Hate Race cover art

The Hate Race

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Hate Race

By: Maxine Beneba Clarke
Narrated by: Zahra Newman
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.52

Buy Now for $24.52

About this listen

 WINNER of the NSW Premier's Literary Award Multicultural NSW Award 2017
Shortlisted for the Nita B Kibble Award 2018
Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction 2017
Shortlisted for the ABIA Biography Book of the Year 2017
Shortlisted for the Indie Award for Non-Fiction 2017
Shortlisted for the Stella Prize 2017

'Maxine Beneba Clarke is a powerful and fearless storyteller' Dave Eggers, international bestselling author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

Against anything I had ever been told was possible, I was turning white. On the surface of my skin, a miracle was quietly brewing . . .

Suburban Australia. Sweltering heat. Three bedroom blonde-brick. Family of five. Beat-up Ford Falcon. Vegemite on toast. Maxine Beneba Clarke's life is just like all the other Aussie kids on her street. Except for this one, glaring, inescapably obvious thing.

From one of Australia's most exciting writers, and the author of the multi-award-winning Foreign Soil, comes The Hate Race: a powerful, funny, and at times devastating memoir about growing up black in white middle-class Australia.

'There is a tendency to talk about a young author such as Clarke as a 'writer to watch' with the expectation that she may, one day, achieve the extraordinary. With The Hate Race, she already has; don't watch, watch out.' Beejay Silcox The Australian

'The Hate Race has a heft to it that is at once steeped in history, and also exquisitely and playfully modern; it is lyrical, sincere and ironic, but above all, it is fierce.' - Books + Publishing Art & Literature Authors Political Science Politics & Government Women Heartfelt Funny Thought-Provoking Inspiring
All stars
Most relevant
Loved this story, sad but true. I grew up in the area book was set in and I can relate.

Brilliant!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully written and performed, singing brutal truths about racism and bullying growing up black in suburban Sydney, and still resonating now. Listening, I wept in bitter anger, as Maxine tells the story of her school days, dismayingly familiar monstrous classmates and disappointing teachers, and laughed at her charming descriptions of life in the 70's and 80's from daggy dad, ovalteenies and cabbage patch kids to Nick the Greeks disastrous hair straightening....

Beautiful and brutal

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very interesting read from the perspective of an Australian born British/Jamaican ancestry author. Being an immigrant, I share her experience and yes, even today. People say it is getting better? Really? Those people are not "coloured". The saddest thing was that I even felt blessed when the attention shifted from racism to religious bias- a sigh of relief that I was not targeted for a while. I work for a company that advocates equality, especially LTBGIQ, however, the Board has no other colours but white. I think it will take another generation for us truly multicultural and I only hope my children and their off-springs get a fairer go.

They say racism is getting better in Australia?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A candid and open memoir of the untold, nastier but unfortunately often true experience of being a person of colour in Australia. Although attitudes towards racism have greatly improved since the 1980s, remnants of what the author duscusses are still prevalent today and relevant to today’s society. Definitely touched a nerve with me.

The untold story of many migrants to Australia

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I share this story. It is also mine as with many people who have migrated to Australia. Hearing this story helped me to see how most people just dont realize how harsh their words feel.
Many people in Australia are ignorant and uneducated to the rest of the world. This is an island protected by a huge amount of water. Many Australians have never traveled and are regurgitating the racism of their parents.
I feel different and sometimes detest it unless we are in a multiracial group. Thats when we are happiest! We do clock each other when we see another person in a crowd of brown skin.
We try to get on with it but are constantly reminded when an innocent stranger asks "where are you from?" then again "no WHERE are YOU from!" really asking what is your genetic background. Most people believe it is an innocent and just curious question.
I feel far away from my family and have made a new family here. i love my family here. My families history also has slave trade mass genocide rape and sadness. It is time to move on and forgive the past. If only strangers didnt keep asking and by this are reminding me of it.
The solution for me has been to teach my children resilience and hopefully they will rise above. I hope someday the leaders of our country reflect the diversity and the indigenous footprint laid here long ago.
This book should be on a list of reading for High School.

Beautifully narrated and written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.