I remember a time when I'd sit on the sofa with my Mum, Dad, Gran and Granddad eating our TV dinners as they would call them now. We had a small house, and didn't have much. Gran and Granddad housed us through most of my school, and yet I look back and think how far we've come as a whole.
There was a young Jamaican man that lived on one side of my Grandparents and an African man on the other, if I remember correctly he was probably Nigerian, yet no-one sought to consult him. They were referred to as "darkies", and that had a profound effect for me in social life. Whenever a different ethnic class child was introduced to our class in School, I'd say, "Oh, look, another darkie", whilst to me that sounded completely innocent, I expect this didn't go off too well with the kids, and I ended up getting severely bullied
And there were times when Granddad was a newshound. He'd sit at that damn box and watch what was being reported, and at the end of it he would comment, "Those Africans, they need to round them all up and fuckin' shoot the bastards"
And let's not forget the local store that was ran by a couple from Pakistan, who's child was in the same class at school as me. They were always asking me to run to the 'Paki store' for them, so 3 guesses as to what I referred to her as. It was amazing I made it out of those years alive if I'm perfectly honest.
Our Grandparents were incredibly racist, and for those of you my age that still have them maybe they've changed, I don't know?
My parents aren't so bad. But I asked them what their opinion would be if I were to come home with a woman of African descent, and their reply to my serious discussion as a teenager was, "You better not do", but they've never had any issues with me socialising with other ethnic groups, and don't see them as club swinging jungle barbarians as their parents have done.
I sat in the car with my older friend last year. I haven't seen him for a while yet he said something that made me think. I was talking to him about this gentleman I knew with learning difficulties and he asks, "What's that then? Is he retarded?", and it took me back that he'd say this. Mainly because of the horrible label. But then I realised he didn't mean it; it's what his generation labeled these people. He didn't mean any of it. So I educated him.
And you know, younger generations will be so much more accepting than me. I'm very tolerant and accepting, but I never had the chance to truly mingle and socialise like they do in school now.
So think about that when you become disheartened, think of how racist and intolerant people were back 30 years ago and how we've become a fully functioning integrated society that we are now. Our kids will be much better than us and so on!
True equality? It might be closer than you expect
Let's look to the future and not to the past