Racism

I dated a black S A in the sixties , oh did I encounter the evil of racism .

come the start of this century I was in a relationship with a man who was born in St.Kitts, the racism was still there but nothing like the sixties.

Five years ago my elder granddaughter dated a boy who was the son of a couple from Napal, some racists comments .

Racism is part of life in this country sadly

WB E was the only dual heritage child in the village and as newcomers we stood out anyway...FIL lives in Harwich and when visiting never had any problems...now after 9 years and 2 further moves out of the villages more ethnicity is arriving in mid Norfolk and now as our background is known we are accepted,but the first years here where uncomfortable at times

Our oldest daughter (white) was once in a relationship with an Afro-Carribean man. We more or less accepted it, he was a kind-hearted chap and they seemed happy together. But his family strongly disapproved, and eventually they split up.
What worried me most at the time was whether any children they had were likely to suffer from racial prejudice.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding, I am talking about how things are today, a few years back, I agree, things were very different.

Back in the 70's we had friends who were a mixed race couple and we use to go to a night club with them that was dedicated to mixed race, I doubt such a club would exist now.

WB school gates where the worst for me,E didn't get any racist remarks until high school,as a young GM I was possibly just about the age where a late fling would have produced a child ,as I remained tight lipped about our circumstances through necessity what they didn't know they made up and that is how rumours start.Older generation where surprisingly accepting,I was shocked at younger ones being judgemental.

DTE it surprises me that you experience racism in Norfolk. We live in a North Essex Village that is 98% white British. There are a few Asian, Afro Caribbean and Chinese families and children. I have never been aware of any animosity towards them, they all seem to integrate perfectly. I see the non white children in apparently friendly groups with their white friends. Certainly my two children had non white friends, in fact following uni, most of our daughters close friends are non white.

I use the terms non white etc, as I do not know of any other description, it is not meant in any racist way.

It is so sad this caused a rift between you and your parents. Clearly you were in the right but your parents were a product of their times. Try to have happy memories of them from earlier times and forgive them their prejudice. Could you write to your sister and try and make amends It is sad when families are divided and it is the bigger person who tries to put things right. Good luck. I hope your GD does well in life and can rise above prejudice.

I can empathise mojowic my GD is mixed race ,I have brought her up since the age 4 after the death of my daughter,E is 18 in February.My partner and I are white.Attitudes have varied but there are occasions where my background has been judged and questioned,especially as we had to move under police protection to rural Norfolk where new comers are under suspicion,and newcomers with a mixed race child are viewed as questionable ,the school gates and playground mafia being the most obvious.

I remember many years ago when I first started out in social work it was virtually impossible to find adoptive parents for a mixed race child as external appearances suggested that a white mother pushing the pram had indulged in sexual activity with a black man - shock horror. Thank goodness we have moved on - we are not quite there yet, but are creeping along the road. The mixed race babies went into foster care. Very sad.

In my view, people who see themselves as on one "side" or "another" in terms of race are not really worth knowing anyway.

Yes, and it's your parents who have lost out.It must always be more difficult for children who are mixed race, and they see that neither side accepts them fully.What a great shame.Hope your grand-daughter does well in life.

Mo, feel pity for your parents they missed so much , C is not different to the rest of the family , she is part of a family

How very sad Mojowic, I was reading an article about Racism in the USA there is a movement called Racists Anonymous it was very interesting. It works a little like Alcoholics Anonymous, whether it can change opinions or not remains to be seen but it is interesting.