X Factor singer Leona Lewis speaks on her experience with racism in the UK

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Leona Lewis opens up about a terrible experience she had a few years ago when she went to a shop with her dad and they got confronted by a racist shop owner. When the owner found out who Leona was, she changed her tune completely...

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[callmeperhaps]

I used to know a biracial girl who looked a lot like Leona Lewis(with blonde hair/blue eyes).

and that's all I wanted to say.

[vanouria]

Ugh this was so sad to watch. I appreciate that she also called out the other ppl at the store who knew it was wrong and were uncomfortable but decided to bounce instead of saying something

[lokelani14]

As for X Factor....Misha B didn't have a good experience there, to say the least.

[smilofax]

I wish someone would post about that here, I would also love to hear from Alexandra Burke about it if she felt up to it, I know she won but her career has been dogged by racism, large fractions of the British media and public have had a hate booner for her for years for no reason.

[lokelani14]

yeah I was waiting for a post too because I didn't get the finer nuances of all of it on twitter....

[anastrophe]

There was a story about Misha B on the BBC front page a couple days ago, and then the next day Tulisa issued a statement. I remember her season and the bullying accusation came out of nowhere (to me, the viewer).

[sicksadworld]

As a PoC who moved from NYC to London, there are parts of England that are no-go zones for me given the racism I've experienced (not unlike what Leona is talking about, even though I'm not black). I pretty much just stick to parts of London that aren't predominantly white or considered posh. As much as this country is divided by class, racism transcends your social or financial position and dictates the spaces you're allowed to occupy. I'm absolutely not surprised that this happened in Chelsea; you can feel the chill when you enter such places. She didn't even need to name the store, they're all like that.

[bloodbelieve]

So many Londoners like to act like London is the least racist part of the country because it's a "melting pot" when it's absolutely not and it's as bad as everywhere else in the UK imo

[callmeperhaps]

yeah, i was in east london zone 3 for a while, and whenever i went to posh parts of zone 1, i got nervous...
(but i guess it's the opposite for some people, haha)

[toshi_hakari]

Same, I don't understand how people can just stand idly by or leave the situation. I am usually a very shy, reserved person that tends to not discuss many things in public (especially the workplace) but when I see injustice happening, you can bet I will get angry and upset.

[toshi_hakari]

I absolutely agree. I know it can be scary but for the person being discriminated against it's even worse.