I thought I grew up in a very racially homogenous place. It wasn’t until I started to think about the kids and families I knew as a child that I realised this wasn’t the case at all. There were many different ethnicities in my community, including those who’d be classed as 'black who I hung out with. Yes it was my own racial privilege which enabled me to be blind to race, but there’s more to it than that. Race just wasn’t on my radar as a child because I wasn’t taught to see the world through its lens. My family never talked about it and when I heard a friend make a racial slur I was truly shocked. I dream of the day when a person’s skin tone is completely irrelevant but I know realistically it’s a long way off. Deconstructing the whole concept of whiteness is a good start.