BOLD ARTICULATIONS!
Unheard voices and overlooked opinions!
“We are British because we live here and we can’t get away from the fact that we are Indian as well. I mean, I would like one or the other but the fact is that I am both.
“When I came this new place, I realised you have to try and integrate with the people around so that you can succeed and I think for that reason you sometimes compromise on a lot of values that you had as Indians to be accepted and integrated into the wider society. There were changes I was making everyday because we weren’t used to the British culture.”
- Kuldeep Benepal,
Businesswoman, Bournemouth
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“It is sometimes difficult to balance out Indian culture with this English culture. We have tried out very best to integrate with the local population and yet at the same time maintain some of our Indian customs and traditions.
“Sometimes when my children used to get teased in school they used to ask me ‘why are we brown and not white?’ and things like that and then I would have to explain to them that we come from another part of the world, if we go there we will be just the same as everybody else.”
- Dr. Venki,
Retired GP
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“I kept on saying to my mum, I wish I wasn’t this colour but at the end of the day you are who you are and you just should be proud of yourself.”
- Nishan Brooks
Age- 10, Student
St. Katherine’s Primary School
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“Because of various violent and aggressive actions from small groups, over the last ten years or so, some members of the British Indian community have become targets of abuse, poor actions and prejudice.
"So on one hand there is a kind of a hidden community aspect and on the other hand its very public and very oppressive.”
- Sonia Francis-Mills,
Director,
Devon Race Equality Council
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"In most cases if there are not enough witnesses there is no justice. So every time someone from an ethnic minority comes in contact with the criminal justice system there are two things that they have to contend with – firstly, the lack of witnesses in the case and then secondly, with the justice system itself that sticks itself up against you."
- David Shire,
Former Chief Officer,
Dorset Race Equality Council
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“We live in a predominantly white society; therefore the views that are prevalent are going to be used to rubbish any racial discrimination argument or try and undermine any complaint as such against the system.”
- Terry Falcao
Solicitor,
Stones, Devon
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“There were constant conflicting messages during my childhood particularly from my home culture and those that came from the majority point of view. I think I certainly did feel like I was living in two cultures and I have often spoken to people who have grown u p in this country and they accept that this is the case.”
- Inderpal Kaur Singh,
Assistant Chief Executive
Black Development Agency
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“Oh I eat with my hands. There’s not a better way to eat than with your hands, you know, that is part of the joy of eating Indian food. You really immerse yourself into the food, into the culture of the food.”
- Puja Vedi,
Editor, Tandoori Magazine.