Lenny Henry breaks silence on racism in UK

Lenny Henry has opened up about the racism his family endured during their stay in the UK.

During an interview with The Times, The Rings of Power actor recalled racist abuse, “My sister Kay came over on my dad’s Jamaican passport."

“My brothers used to get attacked and had to defend themselves on the way to and from work,” adding, My mum was chased down the street by people asking where her tail was.”

Speaking about the Windrush scandal, Henry said: “You can live in this country for 52 years, pay your taxes, have kids at school, get a partner… and they can tell you to go back to a country you’ve not been in since the age of four.”

“This is an extraordinary British tragedy,” he said.

Henry is debuting with August in England as a playwriter, inspired by the BBC’s 2019 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle.

The story follows the British Jamaican August Henderson story. He was threatened with deportation after being stuck in the Windrush scandal that led to many Commonwealth citizens' deportation and their legal rights being denied.