Over many years there have been various waves of strangers entering the UK. At one time or another they all came in for some racist attitudes. For many that stopped within a couple of generations, when the children began speaking with a local accent, because they were white and thus less easy to identify as 'strangers'. It may be more difficult for a lot of the more recent immigrants - I know of one guy who was told to "go back where you came from" and replied "What? Go back to Tottenham?"

I found my racist core when, joking with my daughter and stepdaughter about the possibility of my daughter dating a black workmate, my stepdaughter said "Mmmm, brown babies!" That brought me up short and I really had to stop and think about why.

I think that it was a genetic thing - the idea of my own family's racial identity being subsumed by what appeared to be a more dominant one. Brown eyes instead of blue, brown skins instead if the pale, easily sunburned skin that my family tends toward. Dark curly hair replacing the straight light or blonde hair. Facial features that would not reflect my own genetic inheritance. It was a gut reaction that I have had to come to terms with and which, to a degree, still remains within my subconscious. I daresay that it will be there for life and there will be times when I will have to be aware of and counter it.

I now live as a 'foreigner', albeit one who is unidentifiable as such until I speak and, even then, my language is very similar to that of the indigenous population and my accent is enjoyed by most. To date I have had no problem with anyone questioning my place in my new society. Appearance does make a difference, it seems.