My great-grandparents came here in the 1800s. Too few people realise the UK’s black history began long before the Windrush
In September 2017, I had just landed at Manchester airport after a visit to New York. At passport control I was asked where was I born? I replied, Liverpool, and joked “doesn’t my accent give me away”, to which the officer replied aggressively: “That’s no guarantee you were born there”.
I’m a 73-year-old retired university lecturer, born and raised in Liverpool. But I’m black, you see, so my nationality always seems to be under question.
