….and got the worst racist abuse I’ve ever suffered.
When I first moved to the UK from Ghana with my family in my early teens, the country that welcomed me was one where multiculturalism flourished and neighbors were warm and unassuming.
Your achievements were not prefaced by the color of your skin or your place on the totem pole of identity politics.
People from ethnic and racial minorities were not constantly looking over their shoulders and assuming that every social interaction was laced with disdain or racism. It was a Britain where confidence trumped victimhood.
But, much to my dismay, the tone has shifted entirely, and worryingly, over the past five years.
Now I, a 24-year-old black woman of West African heritage, am expected to be mortally offended if someone dares assume that my dark skin might signal heritage not native to the British Isles.
I am expected to voice loudly my approval of white liberals who inform me of my inherent oppression as a ‘woman of color’.
Amid the demonstrations and tumult of recent weeks, I have grown increasingly concerned about the methods and the wider far-Left political agenda of the Black Lives Matter movement here in the UK.
I have been horrified to watch this ridiculous campaign of tearing down statues and relics of British heritage escalate. It is a campaign that has yet to make any progress in tangibly helping me as a black person. And in recent weeks I have been increasingly vocal on Twitter about my concerns. But in doing so I have become targeted by a wave of vile online abuse.
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Earlier this month I tweeted: ‘Are Brits still allowed to be proud of their culture and heritage or is that racist now?’ I also said I was ‘fairly sick of all the protests’. Last week, I made clear that I do not support BLM, adding: ‘Never have. Never will. I don’t need to put a black square online or tie myself to that organization to prove that I care about black people.’
Some of the comments on social media I have received following these tweets have been truly shocking. I have been targeted by a campaign of abuse, hate, and false information aimed at tarnishing the reputation of a black woman. I wake up every day to horrible messages. Most of this abuse was seemingly coming from black supporters of Black Lives Matter, including a significant amount from African-Americans, although I have also been abused by white liberals. Some of the trolls have circulated a fake image, which they falsely suggest is me. It shows a black woman on her knees posing as the seemingly subservient cartoon dog Scooby-Doo and flanked by four white women. I have had racist language used against me that is as bad as the ‘N’ word.
I have had people tell me they hope I am barren.