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Blood In The River (part two)
The hatred of the Japanese wasn’t surprising given that some of the kids at school had fathers who had been prisoners in Japanese POW camps.
Ed’s friend Ebon, a black African, only visited the house once and I often wondered if Ed might have fostered such a friendship to annoy my grandparents; it was only in Ebon’s company that Ed’s racism against black Africans seemed to abate. My parents also had some Jewish friends and at least the racist remarks from my mother and Ed would tail off for a few days after their friends had visited, even if the remarks increased from my Grandparents.
At school, the general opinion that the best Britons were the English and that the worst foreigners were the Japs, closely followed by The Krauts prevailed as a given set of values. One boy, who I thought would become a friend, delighted in torturing small animals and insects in front of me on the basis that I ought to enjoy it as the Japs loved torture.
He later bullied me when I made my opinions known. The hatred of the Japanese wasn’t surprising given that some of the kids at school had fathers who had been prisoners in Japanese POW camps. But, while a personal story can inform one’s prejudice, it might also lead one to greater study.
The Second World War had certainly entrenched imperial values but, perhaps, it would have been useful if the teachers had made an effort to explain that the British railway projects in India, taking place at the same time as the Japanese Burma railway project, resulted in around 1,000,000 deaths. The brutality of the Japanese regime was nothing compared to the British in India. However, such comparisons were never made and, besides, I was one of only three non-white pupils and I’m not at all sure that it was in the financial or political interests of the school to display anything other than the Empire line.
Coming in the next installment of Blood In The River:The first signs of illness and mother knows best.
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