Apparently, I'm a racist because I don't agree with everything that Left wing placard-waving protesters claim to be fighting for.

Apparently, I'm being labelled a racist because I don't agree with everything that placard-waving protesters claim to be fighting for. However, I'm proud of who I am—a white Englishman. My early childhood was spent living abroad, near the Middle East, as my father was stationed at RAF Akrotiri. For those unfamiliar, it's an RAF base in Cyprus, close to the Middle East and countries like Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Israel. This base houses both RAF and US Air Force personnel involved in peacekeeping efforts in the region, where issues have persisted since the 1960s.

I have fond memories of my early schooling and the freedom and happiness of my childhood there, despite being taught at a young age to identify aircraft—whether they were friendly or hostile—and knowing when to run or hide. (Yes, even as a child, I understood that some planes flew overhead to drop bombs on us.) Eventually, my father left the RAF, and we returned to civilian life in the UK.

I remember being with a group of my English friends in a town in Kent. I crossed the road to chat with some Black kids, which was no big deal to me. But when I rejoined my English friends, one of them said, "You shouldn’t talk to those people—they're Black. People will talk about you." The comment hit me like a ton of bricks. "What do you mean by 'Black people'?" I thought. It was a term I had never heard before, and it never occurred to me to think of anyone as different from myself. After all, I had grown up happily in a country with a mix of cultures and colours. To me, people were just people.

Fast forward a bit—I was married for 20 years to an Asian woman, and we have two children together. My best friend is a Black man. I've travelled extensively around the world as an adult and co-founded a mental health charity in London that served a diverse client base, with people from various cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Later, I ran a therapy centre where I provided counseling and psychotherapy to the same diverse mix of individuals. Over the years, I've listened to and helped many people from all walks of life with their problems, anxieties, and emotional and mental health issues.

Yet, according to some left-wing waving placards, I'm labelled a racist if I don't agree with everything they push. Ironically, these individuals are often lower or middle-class white people who haven't ventured much further in life than the pub at the end of their street. The same goes for the far-right extremists, who share a similar mindset and background—most of them haven't experienced life beyond their local pub either.

As someone who has been called an English racist at times buy some,, and, by others, called the most non-English English person they know, or/and least racist person they know. here's what I think.

There are good and bad people in every culture, regardless. If you're one of those left-wing groups, put down your banner that says "All Immigrants Are Welcome" and stop labelling everyone who disagrees with your every narrative as racist. Instead, create a new banner that says, "Good People of Any Culture Are Welcome." And if you're a right-wing who proclaims all immigrants as a danger and all "immigrants out", do the same—put down that banner and make a new one that says, "Decent People Welcome." This way, we can find some common ground and realise that, in the end, we're all striving for the same thing, aren't we?

#ukriots #leftwing #rightwing