I lived in a White World until I was 25!

I was born in the predominantly white population of Northern Ireland in 1972. This will sound crazy to some people, but for the first 25 years of my life, the only connection I had to another culture was through an Indian boy in my high school.

The first time I saw him I was intrigued. His skin colour fascinated me and he wore a turban. He had two older brothers at the school also. They were often picked on due to their unusual appearance, but they supported each other and were extremely tough. The bullies quickly learned to leave them alone!

At 25, I decided to leave Northern Ireland due to it’s lack of job opportunities. A few of my friends were living in a town called Bedford in England and getting continuous work through a job agency. So it was a no brainer for me. But I wasn’t expecting what came next …

When I arrived in the town of Bedford for the first time, I was completely taken aback. I would have called it culture-shock at the time. Because rather than the usual white faces I was used to growing up, I was surrounded by a world of multi-culturalism.

It was incredibly exciting!

I can remember walking past an Indian family, then thinking back to the Indian boy from my high school. I wondered why his family had chosen to live in such a predominantly white society in Ireland, when life would have been so much easier for them in a town like Bedford; Unfortunately it’s questions like this that expose the harsh realities of racism.

Within days, I felt like I was part of a very different and fascinating new World …

I loved hearing the many different accents, languages and physical appearances of all the different cultures around me.

I started trying out all the different types of authentic foods that were never available to me in Ireland: Indian, Italian, Turkish, Mexican, Chinese, Thai …

I was in cuisine heaven!

I soon realised the life I had known growing up in Northern Ireland was incredibly narrow. I was now living in a global society and loving every moment.

Note: The ethnic groups in Northern Ireland are many. Whites represent 98.3 percent of the population, Asians are 1.06 percent of the population, and blacks are just 0.2 of the population. Northern Ireland Population 2025 ❤️ | Population UK

Being the young hot-blooded male that I was at the time, I often found myself physically attracted to women from different cultures. I mean, how could I not be!

Then one day, my job agency called and sent me to work in an industrial warehouse. My task was to put advertising pages into magazines, then box them up for delivery.

There was a girl working opposite me. She was extremely beautiful and very exotic looking. Her name was Angelina and she was from a Sri-Lankan background. When I first spoke to her, she could barely understand me due to my thick Irish accent. But luckily she fancied me and asked me out on a date …

We have now been married for 24 years!

Angelina originally lived in a place called Hull in the North of England. It was also predominantly white when she was growing up too. Sadly, she was subject to racist bullying just like the Indian boy I knew at school.

I will never forget when I took her to Ireland for the very first time. In my home town, some teenage girls shouted racial abuse at her. I confronted them and told them they should be ashamed. It was a horrible moment for both of us. The fact is, it still happens occasionally. Even now, in 2025!

We must continue to develop cultural tolerance between one another.

Migrating to Bedford and being part of a multi-cultural society was the best decision I ever made. It opened my life up in a way that would never have happened had I stayed in Northern Ireland. There are no limitations to what can be achieved or learned from the many different cultures on this wonderful planet.

We must continue to nurture this incredible gift!

Thanks for reading.

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Originally published at https://medium.com/never-stop-writing/i-lived-in-a-white-world-until-i-was-25-2e734e7b1193