Neve believes she’s successful because she has managed to transcend class, and while she says she’s “proud” to be Black, acts as if she has, somehow, transcended her race too. Much like the iconised American dream, The Strays highlights the lesser-discussed ‘British dream’ which also romanticizes the belief that through simple meritocracy, everyone can change their social standing regardless of race or social class through hard work. Neve does not believe this. She’s fully aware how a proximity to whiteness can increase chances of achieving a very specific version of British success; one with acres and acres of expansive green space, big country estates and elitist private schools, worlds apart from the concrete playground of inner-city London. Out in suburban monoracial English towns, the multiculturalism of the UK’s big cities (as well as easy access to plantain, Black hair salons and kinship from your skin-folk) is traded for this over-prescribed ideal. We soon learn the full extent of Neve’s sacrifice (one she was happy to do, mind you), and how much it takes to distance herself from a past that will soon creep back into full view.
