Experiencing First-Hand Racism As A Child Shaped Me as a Person Today

My siblings and I were born during the 1990s in a town in central England. As first generation Chinese immigrants, my parents worked tirelessly in the restaurant business to raise us. Over this time, they had to endure racism of a verbal and aggressive nature.

I was there to see it since I was working during the weekends, the busiest periods. We did not react for doing so would delight the offenders and worsen the situation. As long as it stayed verbal and didn't turn physical.

There was plenty of anti-social behaviour outside the takeaway where gangs would gather. One year, it became especially serious. We had to call the police on several occasions for fear of violence.

Others would make prank calls and make a big order with no intention of collecting the order. This was during the days before online ordering existed so no upfront payment was made. Some would put on a "Chinese" accent to poke fun at Chinese people. When they realised I had a native British accent, they put the phone down.

(Wix stock image)

I know of classmates who did this to other takeaways and although it frustrated me, I could not stop them from doing so. Over-time, my parents and I grew cautious and our instincts could tell which orders were potentially pranks.

A gang once attacked my family takeaway during opening hours and threw bricks towards the counter. My parents and my brother had to retreat to the back room. The criminals pushed the order monitor onto the floor, smashing it and grabbed the till drawer containing some cash. The police were called.

It was a big relief to me when my parents eventually sold the shop and retired. It put an end to my worries whenever they came home especially late. I was very protective of them and vowed to make a living as early as possible so that they no longer needed to.

My School Days

In my childhood years, I sometimes felt people staring at me as I walked down the town centre street. We stood out, after all the town was 98% White and there were only a handful of Chinese families who lived here. Most locals were friendly to us.

However I was always self-conscious that someone would come up to me and start something. It did happen sometimes, there were name-calling references to my heritage. I just walked away as fast as I could.

I felt insecure about personal safety so avoided looking at anyone in the eye. For anyone that knew me in my youth, this was a big reason why I lacked self-confidence.

It was a psychological thing. I could not even look at friends straight because I had conditioned myself to avoid conflict with other people. A teacher told me I was rude for not looking at her, but I struggled to change. I could remember the stress when I tried to maintain eye contact.

When I was 10, I attended a school located in the Midlands countryside, which my parents chose because the classmates were more likely to be well-behaved and accepting of foreign faces. This was true. Over my 8 years of attendance, I generally faced little racism.

However it was not completely absent and I did face what might be considered "light" bullying behaviour on a few occasions. I was below average height, skinny and wore glasses, apparently an unfavourable combination in local youth society. I was asked whether I ate dogs and called "Chinese-sounding names" that had no connection to my real name. One challenged me to a kung fu duel.

When I went off to university, it marked a huge change in my life. I met friends from all over the world and there was mutual respect, no matter our backgrounds. My past experiences have made me even more appreciative of other cultures.

Unfortunately the racism against Chinese people has surged in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. I personally know of several contacts having been attacked, either physically or verbally. Some of my Chinese friends rarely go out in the evening for this reason.