105: “I lived a, largely ignorant life...”

I grew up in a rural area where there were no black or Asian people and my first experience of talking to someone was in my teens, the best friend of my younger brother at school. At the time though, I didn’t think much about it, in terms of how differently he may be treated. In fact, I can say that I lived a, largely ignorant life in terms of understanding white privilege or racism. I was aware and upset about New Cross and agreed with those that protested, but it wasn't directly in my face. The first time I witnessed racism from someone was when I was out with a black boyfriend and we got stopped by police for no reason other than the colour of his skin. They asked me if I was OK and if I needed any help. At first I didn’t know what they meant, I thought it was aimed at us both. Then, I saw the way they were looking at my boyfriend, like he was some kind of threat. I'm 4'10" and my boyfriend was tall, around 6' but it was clear they viewed him as a threat not due to his height, but the colour of his skin. I responded I was fine, took hold of my boyfriends hand and we walked away. It shook me though but my boyfriend said it was pretty common..