Prejudice?

Something yesterday reminded me of two of my childhood friends.... they were black. I haven’t thought about them for years but my friendship with them taught me a lot at a very early age. Their father was a West Indian cricketer who was the landlord of the nearest pub. My father drank in his pub. On several occasions I was sent to the pub to ask for help with my homework when my father failed the test. Ellis Achong knew how to do algebra and geometry and was very good at explaining it all to me. He had two children, a boy slightly younger than me and a girl a little older. We played out together and their reaction to snow was wonderful to behold. They went to posh fee paying schools and I had passed the eleven plus so attended the local girls grammer school. But during the holidays we often played together...and that was when I became aware of colour prejudice. Fortunately I didn’t understand most of the remarks hurled at me if I walked with them . But I was aware that some people didn’t like it. We were eventually moved to the new housing estate at the other side of Rochdale and we lost touch apart from the odd Christmas card..... but the prejudice was real. As a girl it was something I couldn’t understand, they were lovely gentle and often funny friends. Eventually we lost touch...and I was told they had returned to the West Indies. On one of my cruises we spent some time on several different places and I once asked about my friends...and yes I was told they had gone back where their father had been a successful politician and had been an important man. I could find no reference to his children. But I suppose they were either back home or still in the UK. But this is why I don’t see colour at all. I see people...some funny, some articulate, some shy, but all people just like me. The skin colour is irrevalent. Thank you God.