Thinking Aloud on a Sunday

~ beetleypete

Racism and Bigotry

No idea why, but I woke up thinking about this today.

When I was young, I had never met a black person. I had seen them singing on TV, and by the age of 11, I owned many records recorded by black artists. Outside of some day trips to France, I had never been out of the UK, and my family circle did not include anyone who was not from a working-class, white English background. I took my lead from my parents, and believed what they told me, using the same terms they used, and holding the same opinions they did. I didn’t know any different. It was very common back then for black people to be called ‘Darkies’, though sometimes, the Yiddish/German name ‘Schwartzers’ would be used instead. Their well-dressed children would be admired, but referred to as ‘Piccaninnies’. There were few children of mixed race at the time, but those that were seen around the area would be known as ‘Half-Chats’. Until I was in my early teens, I had no idea that these terms were derogatory. In fact, I considered them to be affectionate, strange as that may seem now.

Then there were the people of Asian origin. Most Chinese people in London at the time seemed to only be involved in the restaurant trade, so unless we went for a Chinese meal, we never came into contact with them. They were always referred to as ‘Chinks’, sometimes as ‘Chinky-Chonks’. The Asiatic races were never separated by nation, either. There was no difference, as far as we were concerned, in someone from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, or any other Asian country. They were all happily known as ‘Chinks’.

This wasn’t just about people of a different appearance and colour though. Irish people were also looked down upon, and often mistrusted too. They were called ‘Micks’ and ‘Paddies’, and everyone believed that they were all ignorant and uneducated. Of course, I had never heard of James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde, or many others at the time. People from the country districts far from London were called ‘carrot-crunchers’. They were also considered to be unintelligent, with indecipherable accents, and a bad taste in clothes. Scottish people were known as ‘Jocks’, and thought to be always drunk, and ready to fight anyone. Then there were the Welsh, known as ‘Taffs’, also considered to be little more than primitive sheep-herders or miners, with nothing in common with us at all.

Because of the area where we lived perhaps, there was no religious or racial bigotry towards Jewish people in my youth. They were admired for their business acumen, and the fact that they used to own many of the shops we used, especially for tailoring. They also lived in very clearly defined parts of the city, so you would rarely see a Jewish person unless you went to those districts. Despite our good relationship with those people, it was still considered to be perfectly acceptable to refer to them as ‘Yids’ though. Once again, I believed it to be an affectionate name, and would never have known it was insulting.

By the time I started secondary school at the age of 11, I had spent those formative years totally immersed in prejudice and bigotry. It was never violent or aggressive, and had no hatred attached. But it was no less tangible, and no less offensive to those on the receiving end. My attitude to other races and religions was already moulded, and my belief that I was somehow better than all of them was entrenched.

Luckily, I went to a mixed school. Not only mixed in terms of gender, but taking in a large catchment area around the boroughs immediately south of The Thames. Within days, I was mixing with children from Nigeria, The West Indies, and also India and Pakistan. Not that many of them mind you; they still stood out enough to be noticed, often pointed out, and sometimes ignored or avoided. There were kids from Irish backgrounds too, and one or two Chinese who came from Hong Kong, still a British colony at the time. There were some from Cyprus, of Greek origin. We called them ‘Bubbles’, from the rhyming slang ‘Bubble and Squeak’. Also Turkish Cypriots, feared as the children of men we thought of as gangsters. They were called ‘Johnnies’, from the WW1 nickname for Turkish soldiers, ‘Johnny Turk’.

No longer in that white working-class isolation, I soon got to know many of these other children. Despite some cultural and religious differences, I quickly realised that they were just like me. They supported local football teams, watched the same programmes on the television, and liked the same film stars as I did. They bought the same pop records, and mostly ate the same food. Like me, they wanted to do well at school, and many had firm expectations of jobs or careers to follow their schooldays. In most cases, they worked harder than the rest of us. They handed in their homework on time, and often studied in their own time too, when we would be playing out on our bikes. As my teens arrived, it started to dawn on me that I was not ‘better’ than any of them. In fact, I could learn a great deal by following their example.

Once I became friendly with some of them, I also discovered that those supposedly affectionate terms and names were considered to be insulting. Those things categorised them unfairly, held them back in ways I couldn’t even imagine, and affected their well-being in ways I could never understand, coming from the dominant race and class in that area. I started to feel guilty, to challenge my parents and their uninformed perceptions of people. Perhaps they were too old to change by then, but I was determined not to follow in their footsteps. I discovered something else too. You can change. You do not have to be a prisoner of your upbringing, or the attitudes of others.

I lived the rest of my life as free of bigotry as I could. Because I chose to.

88 thoughts on “Thinking Aloud on a Sunday”

  1. This is an interesting post to me and one that I can identify with in a way having been born in Apartheid South Africa. I was 10 when Nelson Mandela came out of prison and this was also the same year that there were black children at my previously segregated school – although only two in my year. My immediate family was not particularly prejudiced but all of my encounters with people of colour up to that point were essentially servants and labourers and I had no frame of reference nor had I really thought very much about how things were. By the time I went to high school at thirteen, things were more even and when I went to uni I was one of approximately 10 white students on a campus of 5,000. My viewpoint and critical reasoning changed completely. I think it is almost impossible to maintain stereotypical beliefs about any group of people once you have gotten to know them personally.

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  4. Great post, Pete! My grandmother, who was from the island of Andros, considered people from other Greek islands ‘foreigners’! People were a lot more insular then, although Greeks, being travellers and traders, always mixed well with other races. My primary school was all white, although Ethiopian and Egyptians were very well accepted in different jobs. Now there is much more of a mixture in Europe, which I consider a very positive thing – lots of mixed race couples. I read an article that in the next census, they’ll have to add more categories, because how do you define yourself if one of your grandmothers is Nigerian, the other Japanese, your grandfathers Russian etc? Interesting!

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    1. I think that Europe has finally gone ‘full circle’ from the Roman times, when all races were accepted in the empire, and ‘outsiders’ could become Emperor. Much later, colonialism fostered racism, and it took over a century for acceptance and tolerance to return to the minds of most Europeans. Thanks for reading and commenting, Marina.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. Las Vegas is a very diverse city, with many immigrants (legal and illegal) from all around the world. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of the households in my neighborhood belong to, or are rented by, immigrants. Sadly, they keep to themselves. I don’t know any of them.

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    1. Certain communities here, such as Hasidic Jews, and to some extent the Bangladeshi community also keep very much to themselves, and never fully integrate into general society. Much like The Amish and Mennonite communities in the US.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. I appreciate your candor and appreciated all the responses thus far. I wish our President had been tempered by interactions with a variety of people. He seems to have clung to his original views to the detriment of our nation. I find most people adjust their view points when confronted with an actual person who is different. Sadly too many people spend a majority of their lives isolated from any differences.

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  10. That was a nice, honest post, Pete. Sadly, although a lot of people grew up in the same place, and at the same time as you, not all of them “grew up.” We’ve all met them.

    I grew up in a smallish rural town in South Wales, and I didn’t meet anyone who wasn’t white until I was 19 or so. He was introduced to me at work, and he put his hand out to shake mine, and I have a distinct memory of thinking “Ooh, I wonder what that will feel like.” It all seems so quaint, now.

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    1. Very true, Ian. Many of my contemporaries never escaped their past, and went on to feed that bigotry, passing it on to their own children.
      Thanks for adding your own memory of that first encounter.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  11. Looking back there has been a lot of “them and us” over the years. I am inclined at this point to chose to be a “them” when it comes to choosing sides, for the “us” side is not inclusive enough. We are all human and in this together.
    Thank you for your post.
    Warmest regards, Theo

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  13. Brilliant! We can all change, see the light. While I did not grow up with as many different cultures and races as you did, I had the same experience. Nicknames were not intended to be cruel. They were just nicknames. I have come a very long way, I’m proud to say, and it feels good and right.

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    1. Thanks, Jennie. It is not just races and creeds of course. Three of Julie’s children have bright copper-coloured hair. During their schooldays, they had an awful time being teased as ‘Gingers’.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  14. I was lucky enough to grow up in Yorkshire though being born in Lancashire I can’t call myself a ‘tyke’ 😉 and no people from foreign lands in my area, so being racist didn’t really exist for me, my Mum never mentioned anything. But I do remember (and still have photo’s) of her ‘blacking’ up as in Black and White Minstrels for a show she was performing in. B&W Minstrels was a thing we watched but didn’t enter our heads how racist and hurtful that was. When she married my Dad he was in the RAF and all foreigners needed ‘putting up against a wall and shooting’ 🙄 but we took no notice of his blathering. I have, as I’m sure did you, worked with so many people of different nationalities, Indian & Pakistani doctors, Phillipino, Jordanian, Kurdish theatre nurses and anaesthetic assistants. There are French and Italian anaesthetists Phil works with in his hospital. When I left my first husband it was my Chinese work-friend Jo who gave me a home for a year. My next lovely landlady was also the op.theatre cleaner and she was Spanish. I have been so lucky to meet so many diverse people, and enjoy their cultures. And it’s always struck me how funny it is that peoples prejudices fall away when their health needs rescuing.

    Such a great post Pete and wonderful to read the many comments.

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        1. You are right that I not only encourage such sharing in the comments, but welcome it wholeheartedly. I would sooner have a good mix of comments like those on this post, than a thousand views but no comments.
          Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. This was a truly amazing post to read. I loved your honesty and you are so right, everyone can change, as long as they can find the power and the will to choose to do so. In the end that is something everyone has to find the strength for within themselves. But it can always be done. Really loved this post 😀

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  18. This is such a thoughtful and honest essay Pete. I grew up (and am still living in) a small town which was primarily white when I was growing up. I hat to admit this but my beloved father was racist, and he was Irish! I never understood this and I remember when I was a teenager, we had quite a few arguments over it. We only had one Black family in our town and the only reason why they were accepted was because their son was a talented football player (this is a big sports town.) It’s better today in terms of minority residents, but we still don’t have minority police officers, fire department personnel, or any in high govt. positions.😒 Would you mind if I reblog get this?

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    1. Your own story seems to be the case in many parts of ‘small town America’, Kim.
      As over here, sporting prowess has allowed many people who might otherwise have been marginalised to achieve a great deal, and actually become part of the ‘consciousness’ of the nation. This is true of famous soccer players, as well as Olympians like Sir Mohamed Farah.
      Feel free to reblog anything, with my blessing.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  21. Similar to you I grew up with a lot of prejudices and contemptuously expressions for people from abroad. We lived in a rather small village in the Bavarian alps, and didn’t often see people of “other races”, except the soldiers of the Army Forces Recreation Centre in Berchtesgaden, and their wifes…
    I always called a critical and curious mind my own, so I started traveling in my early twenties, and met a lot of people from other countries. After a while I’ve moved to Munich, the Capitol of Bavaria, and one of the largest cities in Germany. I’ve started working in the renowned Opera House. People from all over the world are employed there, people from all over the world are guests day by day… So I started following the same way you did, dear Pete, I decided to lived my life as free from bigotry, hatred and racism as I could.

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  22. A few years ago, my neighbour who was 85 at the time (bless her, she has since passed away) said that she didn’t like all these foreigners coming into the country, yet she was saying that to me, a second generation Chinese. I know she didn’t have an issue with me, and in her eyes, despite my looks I wasn’t even foreign to her. Sadly its just the way they were brought up.

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    1. That sounds a lot like my Mum, Pauline. She once told a West Indian carer that she was getting tired of seeing all the foreigners in the UK. Realising who she was talking to, she added, “Oh I don’t mean you, you’re alright.” 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  23. I was lucky enough to grow up in a very mixed race environment. That said, there are parts of the US where there is little or no mixing of the races and it leads to many of the issues we have here, especially with our history of slavery as well as the change in how many people here now feel about immigration, which ws one of our country’s most distinguishing features – everyone was welcome

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  24. When I was a young child Spain was not diverse at all (well, Franco didn’t welcome foreigners, unless they were tourists and had plenty of money) and I know quite well what you mean. I also agree that most of us do have a choice and especially these days we can all be exposed to the wondrous variety of the world and the people. In my case “I know nothing, I’m from Barcelona” has always served me well.;)

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    1. Fawlty Towers was good at parodying such issues, Olga.
      Despite the modern awareness of the evils of racism, it does sadly seem to be enjoying something of a resurgence in some countries.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  25. You are so right about having a choice, sadly when I visit back home racism is very much in your face and prevalent in some areas, but like you I went to a multicultural school and that’s when I learnt that people are all the same, good and bad no matter what colour your skin is, your nationality or your religious bent. Life’s too short to hate.

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    1. Cheers, Eddy. In this area, there is still a lot of overt racism. People are often happy to assume that I share their ideas, because I am white, old, and working-class. It never occurs to them that I might be married to someone from Africa, India, or China.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  26. I was raised to treat people the way they treat me and I still do. I have never really thought about what race or color a person was as I was growing up until the riots and protesting started. I have never even asked a person’s religion – none of my business and who cares? I don’t like to talk religion or politics anyway.
    I think all the ranting and raving about racism is what helps to make the chasm ever wider.

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    1. Thanks, GP. It wasn’t that I was raised as a ‘racist’ as such. Just that everyone around me had preconceptions and opinions about certain races at the time, all based on ignorance about people they had rarely if ever encountered.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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          2. I struggle to recall the last time I told a joke, but I did tell some amusing stories about my time as an EMT. 🙂 x
            (Well, some people thought they were amusing, but I suppose you ‘had to be there’…)

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  27. Heaven help us if we ever get offended at being called ‘soft southerners’ or ‘dour scots.’ When I went up North I was called a cockney, although I came from Ealing. As long as it is done with humour it is part of life.

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    1. Well I do have a strong cockney accent, so consider being called one a compliment, even though I am not from the East End, nor born within the sound of Bow bells. When I was young, I would have considered Ealing to be a leafy suburb, on the very edge of West London. It has changed a lot since 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  29. Raised blue-collar in Massachusetts I recognize everything you have said in this post, although I don’t think it was verbalized by my parents exactly, it was just the way things were. The only arguments I ever remember having with my father had to do with race relations when I was a teenager in the 60s. Seeing your words in print made me cringe a little, knowing that I was raised in a time when this was just how things were and that I didn’t realize the unfairness of it all. Kudos to you for having the guts to ‘speak’ it.

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    1. Thanks very much for adding your own experience. As I said, it was never done with any apparent dislike, or animosity, and I was lucky enough that it lasted a short time for me. But it was part of everyday life, and that is now history of course, so needs to be accepted as such, and discussed.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  30. Many of our generation were raised in similar circumstances, absorbing the horrors of prejudice without understanding that is what it was. When I was very young, I was lucky enough to have friends in the local orphanage who were from other nations and learned early that racial prejudice and hatred came in many forms…and was always wrong. You had to like or loathe and individual for who they were, not for anyother reason.
    On the other hand, the term ‘southerner’ was always spoken with a certain superiority and affectionate pity in Yorkshire… 😉

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    1. Thanks, Sue. Once I was old enough to be driving, and visiting the ‘bleak North’, I soon got used to being called a ‘Soft Southerner’! 🙂 (Once I could understand the accents of course…)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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        1. True. (And after five years, I can just about understand the locals…) I almost ended up in York once. Glad I didn’t buy that riverside flat though, as it was flooded a couple of years later.
          I once almost ended up in Scotland too, but that’s a longer story. 🙂
          Best wishes, Pete.

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