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A Saturday thread story:
My dad is Asian, his family is originally from India. He was born British in a British colony. He moved to Britain in the 60s because you could do that in those days.
He joined the Royal Navy.
My dad is Asian, his family is originally from India. He was born British in a British colony. He moved to Britain in the 60s because you could do that in those days.
He joined the Royal Navy.
It was not an easy life. Racism in those days was casual and acceptable, like it's becoming again now. Asian characters were just beginning to appear on mainstream TV as comic caricatures, which is the only way they'd be acceptable.
His nickname in the Navy was taken from one of these characters. Nobody even knew his real name. He adopted the nickname as his actual name because it was easier to go with the flow. So for 22 years, he was a caricature.
Early in his Navy career, he was already accustomed to being a figure of fun. Serving in all white ships among mainly working class men, he was nevertheless popular because he went along with the piss taking because that's how the military functions.
One day he was taking sailing training as part of his recreational time. He and two other new recruits were standing on the little jetty waiting for a turn in one of the GP dinghies when a tall, white officer in civvies came off the water and pulled up beside them.
He asked if they wanted to come for a still with him. 'Yes, sir,' they dutifully said. They clambered aboard and this officer proceeded to chat informally with them, taking a particular interest in my dad and his background.
This was the first person my dad had met in the Navy who talked to him as an equal, kindly and without prejudice or piss taking. They spent an hour just chatting and laughing together. For the first time, Dad felt part of the Navy and believed he'd be okay with the sailor life.
When they got ashore, the officer thanked them for their time and left the boathouse. The lads at the boathouse gawped in amazement at my dad and his oppos.
'Do you know who that was?' they ask him. 'He said they call him Nick the Greek,' Dad replies. 'why, who is he?'
The others practically died on the spot. 'That was the Duke of Edinburgh!'
So, while it might be cool and trendy to smash this guy as a racist, here's an alternative view. He was, at least at that time, the only person who saw a skinny, young, shy Asian man and treated him well.
So, while it might be cool and trendy to smash this guy as a racist, here's an alternative view. He was, at least at that time, the only person who saw a skinny, young, shy Asian man and treated him well.
There was no reason for him to do that. They were at opposite ends of the social scale, rank and privilege, yet this Royal officer, the Queen's husband, took an hour out of his day to make a young brown man feel like he belonged.
RIP, Nick the Greek.
RIP, Nick the Greek.
