In my childhood I dealt with much hate and prejudice being a minority in a city dominated by one particular demographic. At the time Australia had not been anywhere near as multi cultural as it is today and dark-skinned migrants were still a relative rarity to come by in the 80’s. I grew up in the one area of Australia which is the most heavily populated Anglo-Saxon area according to statistics and as a dark-skinned female with a great amount of sensitivity to the environment and a timid personality, which was mainly due to the constant fear of judgement, it definitely was not an easy place to grow up in. Although outright racism was not the everyday experience for me, but it did occur occasionally, there was always issues of misunderstanding and assumption. Being asked if I lived in a hut when I went on holiday to South Africa was a common occurrence as well as the proverbial racist comments not aimed at me particularly, but expressed in front of me as if I were no different to the ‘normal’ white Australian. … Continue Reading