Emeli Sande has said she first became conscious of being judged for her skin colour and experienced racism when she was just five years old.
Describing her life experience to Radio Times, Emeli said: ‘[I was] five and in the playground at primary school in Scotland, and two boys shouted “Monkey” at me.’
The star, known for hits like Read All About It and Next To Me, added that racism ‘seeps into the consciousness of its victims’.
‘I was upset and didn’t know what to do because, if you’re already different from everybody else, you don’t want to cause a bigger problem,’ she explained.
‘But my friend told the headteacher, who then told my parents.’
Sande’s parents then told her: ‘Sadly, this is how the world works.’
‘That was the beginning of my version of “the Talk”.’ she said. ‘The conversation many black and mixed-race parents – my father is black, my mother white – are obliged to have with their children.’
Emeli said she hoped there had ‘been some kind of awakening and understanding of what black people may have been suffering silently’ because of the Black Lives Matter protests.
The movement went global earlier this year after the murder of George Floyd by white police officer Derek Chauvin.
Emeli added: ‘It breaks my heart when you see brown children sit in front of a brown doll and a white doll, and when asked which doll is bad they go for the brown doll.’
She added: ‘You might argue that we need a version of ‘the Talk’ for all children, white and black. Perhaps the better way is just for everybody to learn more about each other.’
Emeli’s other songs include My Kind of Love and Clowns.
Read the full interview in Radio Times, available today.
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