Last year, Lijia Ashcroft, known as Rachel to her friends, opened up to the Falmouth Packet about racism in the town of Helston, Cornwall.
She said a member of the public falsely claimed she had jumped a queue and then called her “Chinese crap”.
On another occasion, Rachel said she accidentally took a shopping basket through the till area, and heard someone say: “Look, she’s trying to steal it.”
Rachel said: “I know other non-British here in Helston that are bullied, but they don’t talk about it.”
An 11 year old boy, Ashley Davies, has also bravely spoken out about racism he encountered as a mixed-race child at a primary school in West Cornwall. He said other children had called him names such as “black idiot”, “slave” and the n-word.
His mother, Natalie, who works as a carer, has also reported experiencing “constant” racism in Cornwall, including being “spat at in the street” and been called a “n***** nurse”, whilst out in her work uniform.
I think the fact that both adults and children often hold racist attitudes in low-diversity, rural areas such as Cornwall is unsurprising, as they may not be exposed to different cultures day-to-day. However, it shows that changes need to be made.
Cornwall has a rich, distinct history, which has resulted in a strong sense of regional identity within Cornish communities. Whilst this is a nice idea, it can also verge into becoming a rejection of anyone who isn’t originally from Cornwall.
A slang term you may occasionally hear in Cornwall is “emmet”, which is a pejorative nickname for tourists or people who have moved to Cornwall from elsewhere. Often, it is people of colour who become the targets of this word.
In my opinion, the two areas which could play the biggest part in reducing racist attitudes in Cornwall are the media and education.
Race representation in the media is important because for those who grow up in an isolated environment, the media may be the only way they can encounter a wide range of people. Therefore, different races and cultures should be represented in a fair, non-stereotypical way in the media such as film, television and the news. This has been improving in recent years, but there’s still a way to go.
As for education, I do remember learning about different cultures when I was in school in Cornwall, but it often had a somewhat “othering” quality to it. We didn’t learn much about other cultures existing in Britain.
If improvements can be made in these areas, I hope that the future of Cornwall will be warmer, kinder and more accepting.
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