I was twenty-four when I realised I have an accent. I knew other people spoke with an accent, but I didn’t think I did. I was born into an English family and spent most of my early years in Pretoria, South Africa. The first time I set foot outside my country was at the age of twenty-three when I flew to Malaysia as tutor. No one ever commented on my accent in Malaysia. In fact, I’ve since travelled to many other countries, and the only place anyone has ever commented on the way I speak, is in England.
I think the realisation that I speak with an accent hit me all the harder in England because I thought that it would be the one place where I would feel at home – given the fact that I had grown up in an English-speaking home.
Everything about me was different though. The way I dressed, the way I thought, the way I spoke. This last difference held particular significance for me however. You see, I speak for a living. I’m a radio broadcaster and I’d been a well-respected presenter in South Africa before coming to the UK. I assumed therefore that I could walk into the BBC, hand them my demo tape and be offered a job on the spot. How wrong I was. I had an accent and in 1999, that did not go down well on UK radio.
I was gutted, but I chose to re-group. I surrendered my desires and talents to my Maker and, resolved to make an effort to get to know these people.
I immersed myself in all things English and in six months, I got my first radio job in England. I had to move though – two hours north of London, to Birmingham. This is where I quickly realised that my time in London had made me acutely aware of accents and, I did not like the Birmingham accent. To my shame, I arrogantly stated that I would never marry a Brummie (someone from Birmingham) because of the way they spoke.
How foolish I was.
I thank God for bringing me to my senses because I did marry a Brummie. We’ve been married for almost fourteen years now and have two beautiful children together.
Prejudice could quite easily have kept me from some of the greatest joys of life – fulfilled purpose and true love. Prejudice keeps us from experiencing the wondrous depths of humanity. We live sad, insular lives when we distance ourselves from others just because they look different and sound or act differently from us.
Let’s #PutAwayPrejudice in 2017. What great adventures and beautiful stories will come from opening our hearts and giving everyone a chance this year.