Think racism isn’t a problem in Britain? What happened to me at the weekend proves otherwise

It was meant to be a fun day shopping with my mum after months of lockdown – instead the trip was a wake-up call about racism in our country

After a year of being in lockdown, the one thing I was looking forward to was going shopping. On the weekend my mum and I took a trip to Harrods. It was lovely weather, the sun was shining, everyone was smiling and happy to be out. We got there early and stood in the queue.

I decided to take some pictures of the atmosphere in London as it was really nice to see that people were sitting outside and some ready to shop. As I was taking pictures I heard, “No foreigners”, and I saw this lady sitting outside the department store on the bench looking directly at me, with a smirk. I put my phone to the side and asked her, “Are you talking to me?” She replied in English, half laughing, “I don’t talk English.” I was in shock, I looked at my mum who was in the queue and told her what this lady had said to me. I stood there and just felt blank, hurt and angry at the same time.

The first thought that came to mind was, what is wrong with foreign people? I thought about the NHS staff who saved lives during the pandemic. They are people of all backgrounds and many of them are from abroad. Upsettingly, no one nearby said anything to the woman.

She then started talking to a lady sitting next to her and kept looking over at me and they both started laughing. I felt really uncomfortable and awkward. I walked over to my mum and we just looked at each other with blank expressions. Harrods opened and I saw the lady walk through the doors. My mum and I just couldn’t believe what had happened. This store is run by foreigners.

I am born and bred in this country and my parents, even though they are immigrants, have worked hard all their lives. They have never taken a penny from the government. They came here to work and they have always given back to the country through charitable work. They faced a lot of racist comments when they first came to the UK. I haven’t had as much as them and this experience really knocked me for six.

In the past I have had words like P*ki shouted at me in the street, I’ve had something thrown out of the bus window at my mum and I have heard my dad being called a terrorist after 9/11 because he wears a turban, but I am still shocked by what happened outside Harrods. I kept thinking of ways I should have approached it. I should have said: “Do you know where your ancestors are from? What’s your issue with foreigners? Many of them are the ones who work so hard in this country.”

I felt I had to share this, so I did on my socials and the post went viral. I had a lot of support, which was really heart-warming to receive. It was comforting to hear how strongly people were against racism. Many also shared their own stories of racism in today’s multicultural Britain.

Racism existed before and it does now and it needs to stop. I am sick of hearing the deeply painful experiences so many people of colour have to go through.

For anyone who thinks it’s funny to be racist, please think before you speak, as it really does hurt. I have a right to be in this country, as do many others. I am the daughter of the skipping Sikh whose exercise videos during lockdown went viral. He raised thousands of pounds for NHS charities during the pandemic. Is he not welcome either because he is “foreign”?

I cannot believe how cruel and heartless some people are. After a horrible year, why can’t people be kind, love one another and understand it doesn’t matter where you’re from? We all have one thing in common: we have the same blood and we can all learn from each other’s backgrounds.