Page Updated 28 February 2026
Warning: The article on this page contains details of racist language and racial slur which some people might find offensive and disturbing.
Immigration and Racism
Immigration has always been an issue in the UK ever since I can remember. Along with it came racial slur and race discrimination. I remember all the shouting back in the1970s about immigrants taking over the country. Well, this has clearly not happened.
However, the fear of immigrants has never gone away, it was latent and has resurfaced as a consequence of the disappointment over Brexit. Brexit has, so far, failed to deliver the prosperity people were promised. Immigrants are now being blamed - not those who let them in and who failed to deport them.
UK being colonised by Immigrants
Contrary to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s recent inaccurate, offensive and insulting comment on immigration, immigrants have not colonised the UK. Majority of the UK population are white as they have always been. I do not see the white British population becoming ethnic minority in the UK.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was not the first to make such a statement. Only last year the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer made his “Island of Strangers” speech. Previous to that was Enoch Powell’s “River of Blood” speech back in the late 1960s.
To date, we have had only one non-white Prime Minister - Rishi Sunak who is of Indian heritage. However, he was not elected by the people and he was not in number 10 for long. I would bet that I am more likely to see Halley’s comet again compared to another non-white Prime Minister.
Racism Where Least Expected
In 2016, someone who I believed to be a member of staff at the Employment Tribunal in Stratford East London referred to me a “S Adewale” in the heading of the Reserved Judgment of case number 3200656/2015.
I do not believe the initial “S” to be a typing error. I believe the initial “S” to be “Sambo” and that it was intentional. In other words I am “Sambo Adewale” as opposed to “Adekunle Adewale” as clearly stated by the Employment Judge at paragraph 26 in the Reserved Judgment, (please see page 1 of case number 3200656/2015 page on this website).
“Sambo" is an offensive and derogatory racial slur - a contemptuous term for a black person. It is on a par with “Nigger”. In England in 1970s, Black people were called “Sambo”.
Notwithstanding my requests to have the initial “S” amended, it was not amended and I never received notification that the initial “S” was ever amended.
Given the fact that my claim was not against the Employment Tribunal, I remain at a loss as to why anyone at the Employment Tribunal in Stratford East London would racially abuse me.
The Employment Tribunal is part of the Court Service, as it then was, where I had worked with Jacquie O’Brien in 1996, and where I was victimised for daring to complain about race discrimination over many years - I was denied promotion opportunities afforded to white colleagues and I had to put up with hurtful allegations in my appraisals, racist letters and abusive telephone calls.
I was fortunate enough to have the support of the Commission for Racial Equality and legal representation. I won two employment tribunal claims and the third claim involving Jacquie O’Brien was settled out of court, (please see the “Takeaway” page on this website)..
Racial Abuse in Football
Racial abuse is not limited to everyday employment, it’s alive and kicking in football too.
I refer to the alleged incident of 17 February 2026 involving Vinicius Jr of Real Madrid and Gianluca Prestianni of Benfica during a football match between the two clubs. Vinicius Jr who is a black Brazilian alleged that Gianluca Prestianni who is a white Argentinian racially abused him. Gianluca Prestianni denied the allegation in a subsequent social media post.
Previous to the alleged incident of 17 February 2026, some years ago, there was a similar incident involving John Terry of Chelsea and Anton Ferdinand of Queens Park Rangers during a football match between the two clubs.
Anton Ferdinand who is mixed race alleged that John Terry who is white racially abused him. John Terry denied the allegation but was subsequently found to have made the racist comment alleged by Anton Ferdinand.
Tourette syndrome and Racial slur
In relation to the most recent incident at the BAFTA Awards involving John Davidson who has Tourette syndrome blurting out “Nigger” when Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo, both black actors, were on stage presenting awards, I find it hard to believe that the BBC could not have edited out the offensive word.
I have known four individuals who had Tourette syndrome. They were all white British males. None of them blurted out racial slur. Three of them uttered obscenities - rude and swear words. The fourth never did, his was a chant. They were all good men, pleasant people.
I am not suggesting that John Davidson intentionally blurted out the offensive word “Nigger”, perhaps that is how he identifies black people! The word “Nigger” originated in the US from the word "Negro" - Spanish for a black male. The black African slaves were referred to as Negro.