Lenny Henry's family also subjected to racist abuse
Lenny Henry has called out the racism in the UK where his family faced racist attacks while he was growing up.
During an interview with The Times, The Rings of Power actor recalled racist abuse, “My sister Kay came over on my dad’s Jamaican passport."
“My brothers used to get attacked and had to defend themselves
on the way to and from work,” adding, My mum was chased down the street by
people asking where her tail was.”
Speaking about the Windrush
scandal, Henry said: “You can live in this country for 52 years, pay your
taxes, have kids at school, get a partner… and they can tell you to go back
to a country you’ve not been in since the age of four.”
“This is
an extraordinary British tragedy,” he said.
Henry is debuting
with August in England as a playwriter, inspired by the BBC’s 2019 Soon
Gone: A Windrush Chronicle.
The story follows the British Jamaican August Henderson story.
He was threatened with deportation after being stuck in the Windrush scandal
that led to many Commonwealth citizens' deportation and their legal rights
being denied.
