Where are you from?

As a white man, born in England of English, Dutch and Norwegian stock, I am occasionally asked where my name, Johansen, comes from. I am happy to answer that the name comes from Norway where my paternal grandfather was born. He then moved to England with his brothers to open the Mustad nail factory in Portishead. My mother, who gave me my middle name Marinus, after her father, and so my grandfather, who died before I was born, migrated to England from Rotterdam in the 1950s. In a country where immigration is such a divisive issue, I have only rarely been on the end of anti-immigration chatter and that happened many, many years ago. Being white may have something to do with the easy ride I have had. But yesterday, it was revealed that Prince William’s godmother, Lady Susan Hussey, clearly had a different agenda when she pressed Ngozi Fulani, the CEO of Sistah Space, on her heritage at a Buckingham Palace reception.

Fulani had been invited to this reception marking the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Her charity Sistah Space is a London charity supporting women and families affected by domestic and sexual violence. Ms Hussey, who is a lady-in-waiting, whatever that is, was far more interested in Fulani’s heritage. Witness this exchange:

Hussey asked Fulani “Where are you from?” not once, but seven times. I suppose you could attribute her crass questioning to her both her age – she is in her eighties – or her class. I would imagine ‘working’ in a royal environment is not quite the same as the real world inhabited by you and I, but I think it’s much worse than that. By any measure, Hussey is guilty of racism, pure and simple.

It is one thing to be interested in someone’s heritage and quite another to engage in such crass behaviour such as asking about “your people”. No one ever asked me about “my people”, those villagers in the Norwegian town of Gjovic where my grandfather came from, or Rotterdam, where my mum and all her family were born, certainly not repeatedly and persistently. In the eyes of people like Hussey, her people must be better than Fulani’s people. Quite how she dealt with Prince Phillip was born in Corfu, Greece is a question we might never see answered.  But then, Big Phil was white.

Hussey has resigned but she should have been sacked first. Her line of questioning was simply unacceptable and, I fear, reflects a mindset that still exists among the upper orders and may explain, at least in part, the difficulties a black woman has suffered since marrying into the royal family, one Meghan Markle, who was once asked by a senior member of the firm what colour her baby would be.

It’s made me think about how I talk to people, too. I am fascinated by diversity in society, which is one reason I love London so much; the world in one city. I love learning about people’s backgrounds, what brought them to England in the first place and the roots they have planted. Maybe, I shouldn’t? Maybe I’m a racist, too, discriminating against people, albeit passively, and I’m behaving like Hussey? I never thought of it like that before but maybe I should consider my position. But what, then, would I gain about not learning more about people of different backgrounds, backgrounds like mine?

By revealing her racism, Hussey has made it harder for all of us, especially for people like Ngozi Fulani. I’m certainly having a rethink and maybe we all should, too?