As I watched Josephine Kwali share her thoughts and concerns for being ‘unconscious’ about racism, I remembered all the times I had experienced it. I am in complete agreement with her, that racism is wrong. She learnt it at the age of four years old. I am sure every person of colour has their own timeline and story, learning sadly from lived experiences and not hearing of racism from a book, lecture, or documentary.
In Units of study where our protected characteristics are shared, as part of our Identity, this video can be shared and discussed in the Fashion Design Studios, encouraging conversation. Helping students to explore their family heritage and celebrate their identity.
Growing up in Oxford, once whilst walking back home on our block, which is on a main road, I remember as we were approaching the corner, two white males, which at the time from my memory looked like Oxford University undergraduates threw eggs on my grandad and me. They did this whilst jogging passed us and never stopped. I was left very confused by the experience and was less than ten years old. We did not retaliate, walked home, and cleaned ourselves. We were targeted for being brown and forty years later, I can still remember a sense of confusion around that experience. I do not think those two had an unconscious bias, for it was a very conscious act of racism.
Image taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XDUGPoaFw