Great Britain is in the same position as the USA, a country which is proud to be called Great a greatness built on the back of slavery and exploitation.
Brexit was a prime example of how an issue was used to divide a nation along racist lines, step forward Johnson and Farage to name a few.
My actual experiences of direct racism have been limited but still shocking and two of the worst cases have occurred in Cornwall. The Cornwall flag is Black and White a symbol of unity but like America it is fake.
Back in 2016 I was working as a night shift manager for a large supermarket, responsible for 30 plus staff. On this day I had completed my shift and had arranged to meet my partner at the time for a morning coffee before getting some well needed sleep.
I left the store and went directly to Costa. When I left, I was surrounded by 10 armed police who were poised and ready to take some decisive action. Lucky for me I always remain calm and have no criminal record, they proceeded to run my details through whatever database they used and realised, after about 40 minutes, that I was not the man they were looking for. The only similarity between me and the man they were after was that he was black and had braids. He was both much taller and larger than me, and they had that description. I am a very proud black man, I must add, but at the time I wished for the earth to open and just swallow me up saving me from all those eyes looking at me, a black man being stopped in a white town, my only crime being the colour of my skin; something I have no control over.
The more recent incident occurred this year when a white woman refused to be served by me. She at no stage spoke to me but approached my manager and colleague and requested another till be opened as she didn’t want to be served by a black person. My colleagues were supportive, the police were called, and the incident logged as a hate crime. The woman was also banned from the store.
In conclusion we are still in a deplorable place. Both here and in the Divided States of America racism persists and people of colour are treated in different ways to white people. It effects every aspect of our lives and is so embedded in our institutions and our cultures. It is something that the privileged white majority cannot understand. The privilege comes from being white not being better or more intelligent.
This story was written by Clinton Sealy, BAME Officer for Truro & Falmouth Labour.