Good Morning Britain weatherman Alex Beresford, who made global headlines for calling out Piers Morgan for his attacks on Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, said he has been subjected to intense racism since he did.
Beresford penned an essay for The Telegraph, in which he wrote, “I have been forced to step away from Twitter and Facebook myself because it was getting too much. I am a strong person, but I am not made of steel.”
“These are just the past few weeks of my own, very much lived experience of racism in Britain,” Beresford says. He then references a report released by the country’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, “which was created by Boris Johnson after the Black Lives Matter protests last summer” and “said there was no evidence of institutional racism in Britain, and that the country was a ‘beacon for other white-majority countries.'”
Beresford maintains the report is what the UK government “wants to believe,” but says it does a disservice to the country. “If we acknowledge there is racism in Britain – as the report does – then we have to acknowledge it will find its way into institutions.”
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He says the barrage of racism he has faced on social media is “just a reflection of a bigger problem in society. These people are your co-workers, they are even a parent at the school gate.”
“Not all racism is caught on camera. Not all racism is a black man lying on the ground with a knee on his neck,” he writes. “It comes in many forms. Between myself and friends we have dozens of examples of where we have faced institutional racism throughout our lives: in some of their cases, losing out in the workplace and restricted opportunities.”
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Beresford recounted that his mother, who was white and British, and his Guyanese father tried to prepare him and his siblings for the outside world, where he experienced prejudice. “Managing the many forms of racism can start at the same time as learning to tie your shoelaces,” he wrote.
His essay is concluded with Beresford saying he hopes younger people, who feel more comfortable dealing with issues of race, give him hope. He also writes that while social media has impacted the way people communicate, he hopes its use will prompt difficult conversations.
Beresford has been an acting main presenter on Good Morning Britain since Morgan’s departure. The show’s producers have yet to name a permanent replacement.
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