"we're human beings that are being labelled."
A mother challenged racism on BBC’s Question Time when she explained that her son was attacked and called “a P**i”.
She went on to give a passionate speech about how society should stop labelling others if they want to end racism.
The audience member’s comments on the subject of racism came in the wake of the vile abuse that members of the England national football team suffered during their Euro 2020 Qualifier against Bulgaria on October 15, 2019.
On Question Time, the woman spoke about racism by detailing the attack on her son in what was a hate crime.
She said: “My son was attacked, even though he is a second generation. He was attacked and he was called ‘a P**i’.
“Now you tell me how does a person take ‘a P**i’, what do we say?”
The mother went on to question if it is a name that people use to label others.
“What is it? I’m not a P**i, he’s not a P**i, we’re human beings that are being labelled.”
She asked the Question Time panel why do people have labels when everyone is a human being. The mother went on to talk about her own cultural background.
The woman explained that while South Asian people may have different faiths, they do not have the label “P**i”.
She then spoke about the aftermath of her son’s attack and her response.
“My son said ‘mum, what do I do, I work for security, do I walk around and say no I am not a P**i, I am a Sikh.
“I said no son, you are a human being.”
The mother then moved on to the subject of white supremacy. She said that it was something South Asian people felt was prevalent in the UK.
Even though she was born in the UK, the audience member felt that white supremacy was the cause of dividing everyone.
“I was born in this country, my father served in this country, but it is white supremacy that is dividing everybody.”
She stated that she did not like being called racial slurs when she is a human being just like everyone else. The woman then recalled her own experiences of racism during her childhood.
“I went to school I used to be called curry face. Is that a name. That’s disgraceful.”
She went on to say that society must abolish hate which is aimed at a person’s race or colour of their skin.
The woman explained that everyone is the same beneath their skin.
“Everyone here has the same amount of bones, same amount of blood, you take my skin off and we’re exactly the same.
“Where has racism come from?”
Her powerful comments drew huge applause from the Question Time panel and other audience members.
The woman’s call for people to stop giving each other labels has had over 240,000 views on Twitter and it may prompt change when it comes to hate crimes.
Watch the Powerful Speech from Question Time
‘We have to abolish all this race hate, colour hate’
This #bbcqt audience member says we need to stop labelling people if we wish to end racism. pic.twitter.com/MDq6ViTjFP
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) October 17, 2019
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