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"From
my schooling there was no sense for me that there was a history
to black people in this country.
It was as if I had suddenly landed from the planet Zog. In investigating
history I found there is a very long history of all sorts of
people coming to this country."
Tonia Mihall
is just one of the local people featured in the “Norfolk
Roots of the Future” exhibition, which celebrates the achievements
of the black communities in the county.
Produced
by the Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council, the exhibition
not only highlights people living and working in Norfolk now,
but also looks back at the historical perspective.
It was
Tonia's experiences as a black child growing up in a mainly
white area that led her to make her own contribution towards
the eradication of racism.
Tonia
Mihall's story
Tonia
Mihall |
Tonia was
born in Suffolk in 1963, to a white mother and a Ugandan father,
and grew up with her white extended family. The Norwich-based
development worker says she was about eight years old when she
became aware of being “different”.
“At that
point I started to become aware of people calling me names,“
she says. “Luckily I have a great family and I never really
felt that it was my problem.”
She talks
of being singled out when walking down the street with her friends.
“Suddenly I would be isolated from my community and my family
and friends,” she says. On shopping trips to Norwich, Tonia
remembers seeing the National Front selling their newspaper
on the streets.
She eventually
moved to London, becoming a history teacher, but returned to
Norwich six years ago, determined, she says, “to make this area
more the sort of place I wanted to live and feel comfortable
in.” Through her involvement with Norwich’s Black Womens’ Group
and anti-racism projects, she feels she has been able to reclaim
the area as her home.
"whitewashing
history" >>>
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