Neil has a daughter, Millie, and he says it is because he wanted to be a good role model for her that he changed. Millie says Dad used to say she wasn't allowed to have a black boyfriend and that when they walked past 'Big Issue' sellers, dad would tell her to only buy from English people. Neil says, "I learned from Millie that what I was was unacceptable."
You can watch an honest interview with Neil in the link above.
When asked why he thought it was ok to use racist language in the past, Neil says it was learned behaviour. he talks about not knowing any black families when he was growing up so when he moved to a bigger, more diverse city, "it was a shock to the system, I didn't know how to deal with it. So I just followed what everybody else was doing."
Neil talks about going to football matches and going along with the racist and homophobic chants because it was normalised; "Everybody else is doing it so that's great, I'm joining in same as everybody else." He says "Looking back now, that's not the person I am now."
Millie says, "It's nice to know that he can change and that other people can change as well."
Neil says, "If I can, anybody can. I'm not just not racist, I'm anti-racist... I've got a lot of respect to Millie because she stood up to me and showed me what I was."
No comments:
Post a Comment