I think we're light years ahead of most of the world in terms of race relations, says Mercy Muroki

I think we're light years ahead of most of the world in terms of race relations, says Mercy Muroki
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Mercy Muroki

By Mercy Muroki


Published: 19/05/2022

- 11:58

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:22

Hello, I'm Mercy Muroki - and (not that it's relevant) but I'm a Kenyan-born British woman

I'm not Mercy, a black woman. Because, well I'm literally not black. I'm a kind of walnut brown with hints of mahogany, my mum is a... chestnut brown, and my daughter a sort of a cinnamon brown with a dash of terracotta.

And I'm certainly not Mercy, a woman of colour - because what the hell does that even mean? A woman of colour as opposed to what, exactly? A see-through, translucent woman?


Let's see, what else? Well, I was born in Kenya, I grew up in Northamptonshire, I consider Northampton my home town.

I was a shameless teacher's pet growing up. I was that annoying kid who always did their homework on time, always put their hand up, and who won pretty much everything. Sorry kids, we can't all be born great, can we?

I can still recite a 36-line poem I learnt when I was 10... I wanted to be an animator when I was younger, then a vet, then a banker, then the Prime Minister ... because I was a strange kid who was a bit of a nerd.

Mercy tells GB News viewers that she 'loves' Britain, despite it being a 'controversial' view to hold.
Mercy tells GB News viewers that she 'loves' Britain, despite it being a 'controversial' view to hold.
Image: GB News

I was quite a rebel in my teens.

Did I smoke behind the school and drink in the park with my friends at 4pm?... Maybe. Sorry, mum.

But don't drink and smoke, kids. And I was actually suspended from school once... that's a story for another time. And then I got pregnant at 18...

I'm sarcastic, I'm very candid, I make rude jokes sometimes. I'm not everyone's cup of tea and I'm completely okay with that. Talking of tea, I really love a cup of tea. And a bottle of Lucozade - the original, of course, not the orange one - I'm not an animal.

And I really like meat, pork in particular.

The countryside is my natural habitat, I love DIY - I consider it quite therapeutic actually.

I say what I mean and I mean what I say.

Why am I telling you my life story? Well, my point is the least important thing about me, and in fact everyone, should be what colour they are.

I am a lot of things. What I am not, is someone who can be reduced to their race. Nobody can. Because honestly, who bloody cares what colour I am or what colour anyone is? I don't.

Recent research suggests 84 percent of Brits wouldn't mind having an ethnic minority as Prime Minister.
Recent research suggests 84 percent of Brits wouldn't mind having an ethnic minority as Prime Minister.
POOL

But, enough of me - what I'm actually getting at is that it turns out that Brits agree with me. People actually aren't that fussed about race.

This may come as a startling shock to the "Britain is racist" doom-mongering catastrophisers who think most people are walking around filled with venom and rage against brown people.

In this new piece of research by British Future, three-quarters of Brits say that social diversity is actually part of UK's culture - considerably higher than 10 years ago.

84 percent wouldn't mind having an ethnic minority Prime Minister - with a majority of people saying the PM's ethnicity doesn't matter at all to them, and a quarter of Brits even saying they would WELCOME an ethnic minority PM.

Colour of skin and birthplace have no significance to being British anymore... 3 in 4 people don't consider being white as being important when it comes to being regarded as British. The overwhelming majority tie being British to how much people contribute to British society, rather than how much melanin they have in their skin.

On top of that, 80 percent of people do not think racism is getting worse - including - and this is important: three quarters of ethnic minorities.

Now, these are not perfect figures - obviously. But they're figures I can live with. They're figures that bust some of the myths that do the rounds in some liberal metropolitan circles - that British life in seeped in racist attitudes.

I actually pity people who think race is the most significant fact about someone. How miserable it must be to be so small minded and so reductive.

I love this country - I do. Controversial to say, believe it or not.

I think we're absolute light years ahead most of the world in terms of race relations. And I will make no apologies for holding that view.

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