Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism

Balraj Purewal
How did you develop an interest in political activism?
I suppose there are distinct memories which had an impact on me growing up. Firstly, I
was at school in Southall in the late sixties, and this was a difficult time for Asians in Southall.
I think I recall my time at school like a prison sentence. I was in one of the top classes, but
I hated being there because all the other kids were white, and I was alone. One day I ran
away, and joined the lower class, 2b, just to spend time with my Asian friends, I’m not sure
why, but it took them two days to find me and take my back to my class. Racism was fairly
open in the class, and the teachers would regularly ask you questions, and point to you
directly just to mock you. One of the other kids, Harpal stood up to the teacher one day, and
told them he doesn’t want to be humiliated, some other Asian kids stood up, and eventually
I did the same. The school expelled Harpal for a while, though he is now Dr Gill, a successful
doctor. My worst experience was that of being chased by older white kids. We had to walk
from one block to another, and we would get regularly chased through the corridors, and
sometimes we would get beaten up. The teachers never intervened. Outside school was just
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