"From my schooling there was no sense for me that there was a history to black people in this country.
It was as if I had suddenly landed from the planet Zog. In investigating history I found there is a very long history of all sorts of people coming to this country." Tonia Mihall is just one of the local people featured in the “Norfolk Roots of the Future” exhibition, which celebrates the achievements of the black communities in the county. Produced by the Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council, the exhibition not only highlights people living and working in Norfolk now, but also looks back at the historical perspective. It was Tonia's experiences as a black child growing up in a mainly white area that led her to make her own contribution towards the eradication of racism. Tonia Mihall's story 
Tonia Mihall |
Tonia was born in Suffolk in 1963, to a white mother and a Ugandan father, and grew up with her white extended family. The Norwich-based development worker says she was about eight years old when she became aware of being “different”. “At that point I started to become aware of people calling me names,“ she says. “Luckily I have a great family and I never really felt that it was my problem.” She talks of being singled out when walking down the street with her friends. “Suddenly I would be isolated from my community and my family and friends,” she says. On shopping trips to Norwich, Tonia remembers seeing the National Front selling their newspaper on the streets. She eventually moved to London, becoming a history teacher, but returned to Norwich six years ago, determined, she says, “to make this area more the sort of place I wanted to live and feel comfortable in.” Through her involvement with Norwich’s Black Womens’ Group and anti-racism projects, she feels she has been able to reclaim the area as her home. "whitewashing history" >>> | 
