BBC Naga: I spoke out on Trump because of the racism my parents endured
BROADCASTER Naga Munchetty has revealed that the bigotry her parents endured after emigrating to Britain prompted her to brand Donald Trump a racist on BBC Breakfast.
Speaking for the first time about the row, in which she criticised the President’s comments that four congresswomen should ‘go back to their own countries’, she said her parents – both nurses – had faced similar abuse.
She told the March issue of Vogue magazine. ‘I’ve tried to explain to friends why racism hurts more than sexism, than classism, for me personally – I can’t speak for anyone else.’
Pausing slightly she added: ‘My mum has been told, “You Paki b****, get your hands off me,” when she’s cleaning someone. My Dad has been told the same thing. When they’re cleaning someone’s a***. A racist person’s a***. My parents have always been absolutely professional and caring as nurses.
‘They came to a country that wasn’t always welcoming to people of colour, to be the best they could be. And they were told to go home all the time.’ Miss Munchetty’s parents saw Britain as a land of opportunity when they moved to the Welsh Valleys in 1971 to study medicine: her mother Muthu, who came from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was 18 years old and training to be a dentist; her father Deywanund, a Mauritian a year her senior, wanted to be a nurse. The couple married in London in 1974, Muthu switched to nursing and Naga was born the following year. Her sister Mimi, an IT consultant, was born in 1976. Her parents now live in Purley, Surrey. Miss Munchetty, 44, explained: ‘I grew up in Camberwell, then Peckham, then Streatham. Went to school in Tooting. I lived in south London until eight years ago. And I have been told many times: “Why don’t you just f*** off to where you came from?”’
It was four months ago that Miss Munchetty found herself in the eye of a storm when she made the comment about Mr Trump. A viewer complained and she was reprimanded before the BBC director general Tony Hall reversed the decision.
Reflecting on her remark, she said: ‘ Was it unprofessional? I don’t think so. One of the balancing acts of being a Breakfast presenter is being comfortable enough to show who you are and your personality. And I do stand by it.’
But she stressed: ‘What it has done is raise an uncomfortable conversation that needs to be raised. An ugly, ugly subject, and not something that only happens in the BBC.’
Despite the BBC’s pledge to address diversity, Miss Munchetty said: ‘If I can’t say something, how is a young producer going to be able to say stuff without fearing that they’re going to be seen as someone with a chip on their shoulder?
‘Professional and caring’