"Alex has had the P-word said to him"
Romesh Ranganathan has revealed that his three sons have suffered “abhorrent” racist abuse at school.
The comedian and TV star shares sons Alex, Charlie and Theo with his wife Leesa.
Romesh said his children have experienced racism, although he believes it has been less frequent than what he experienced growing up.
He said: “The boys have had racist abuse. Not loads, not as much as I did, but they have had comments.”
Recalling an incident involving one of his sons and another child, Romesh continued:
“We had a bit of an incident.
“One of the kids was chatting to a girl, just some friend at school, and one of the other kids said, ‘I don’t know why you’re bothering to chat to her. You’re going to end up marrying your cousin’.”
He also revealed that his eldest son Alex has been subjected to a racial slur:
“Alex has had the P-word said to him when he’s been walking around school.”
Romesh believed parents could play a role in how children develop racist attitudes:
“At a certain point you’ve got to go ‘they’re obviously hearing that at home’.
“So whenever I see that or I hear that a kid’s done it, the next time I see their parents I’m thinking ‘you’re racist’, right? And that’s a horrible thing.”
Speaking on his Wolf and Owl podcast with co-host Tom Davis, Romesh Ranganathan also discussed how he wants his children to respond when confronted with racism.
He described racism as “horrible and abhorrent”, but said he believes it is a “it’s a mistake to supercharge it”.
He added: “What I mean by that is if somebody calls you a racial slur and it immediately ignites you, it gives that person power over you.
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t react to racism, but I’m saying that immediately leading you to be violent is not something I want my kids to do.”
Romesh has previously spoken about experiencing racism himself during his childhood and university years.
Recalling his own school days, he said: “I got slurs thrown at me a fair bit.
“I remember once I was walking out of school and like there was this kid that was sort of known for being racist just spat on me.
“Then at uni, it’s happened a few times, I got jumped by skinheads when I was coming out of a club.”
The comedian previously worked as a teacher before pursuing an entertainment career and has since become one of the UK’s most recognisable TV personalities.
He has also spoken publicly about his difficult upbringing, including a period when he and his mother lived in bed-and-breakfast accommodation after his family experienced financial difficulties.
Ranganathan said: “This all happened very, very quickly. It was a struggle. My mum found out my dad had been messing around. He fell into financial difficulty so we ended up getting our house taken away.
“We were supposed to go into a council flat, but they didn’t have enough, so we were in a bed-and-breakfast for a year-and-a-half. And my dad was in prison. It was insane.”
