“AS A nation with a dark history of colonisation and oppression of people of colour, Britain needs to re-examine its attitude towards those of us who live here.”

A Pembrokeshire curate has spoken out about what it’s like to experience racism in Pembrokeshire and across the UK.

The Rev Shirley Murphy, assistant curate of The United Benefice of Narberth, spoke to the Western Telegraph after she wrote a blog post called All Lives Matter on her website.

In her post, Shirley reflects on her time in Britain and the racism she has faced here.

“‘You are just slaves. So go back to where you came from...’ is what I was told by an elderly British lady when I was working in a travel kiosk in London,” Shirley wrote.

“ I was approached by a British lady who was in her late 70s, who said she was looking for a hotel.

“Before I could acknowledge her, she said to me ‘but I would like to be served by someone other than you’.

I felt like someone had ripped my heart out

“I just smiled and said to her there was no one here other than me.

“She shouted at me and said she would not like to be served by a slave. She said: ‘You were just slaves to us, so I think you should just go back to where you came from’.”

Shirley said, that, after offering to help the woman, the woman said she would rather die, and walked off.

Asked if she has experienced racism in Pembrokeshire, Shirley said she has experienced it everywhere.

“Wherever I go, when I go to the supermarket people look at me like I’m from outer space.

“I’m a vicar, so I’m wearing a collar and I’m with my husband who’s Pembrokeshire born, when we hold hands people stare at us. Sometimes we have to ask people to stop."

She added: “There are people like that and there are people who don’t want anything to do with me, there are people like that here as well, but luckily all the congregations they have accepted me for who I am.”

Reflecting on the incident with the elderly woman, Shirley said: “Even though I was calm during the conversation I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and I felt terrible and offended once she left.”

Shirley said the incident left her wanting to return home to India, but her parents encouraged her to stay.

I was constantly asked if I paid to marry my husband in order to stay in this country

“My dad said trust in God, he has a plan and purpose as he took you to that country so stay there and carry on working and doing good and we will come and visit you soon.”

Having lived in the UK for more than 15 years, Shirley said she considers the country her home, but said the language was a powerful medium through which conscious or unconscious bias and prejudice can be expressed.

“I love the British sense of humour; I love the sarcasm, the self-effacing and self-deprecating nature of British humour.

“However, there is nothing light-hearted or funny about making fun of someone because of their accent, nationality or race.

“‘I did not mean to offend you,’ is something I am often told, implying I am the one with the problem, the one who is too sensitive, and the one who is different and has no sense of humour.”

When I moved to Wales, I was always acknowledged as the brown girl in the village.

Since becoming a vicar Shirley has been telling her life story to groups like Probus clubs and the WI, which she said had helped start to change people’s mindsets.

Shirley said she was lucky to have the parents she did, because women are not as accepted in India, but had traded one form of prejudice for another.

“A girl child isn’t accepted as much as a boy child. The girl child is aborted because of the dowry system. The boy gets money but a girl you have to pay.

“It is still very much so in India.

“My father made me stand up for myself, made sure I learnt karate and English - I was lucky to have parents who brought me up in such a way.

“People judge me because the British ruled over us and saying we should be put down - standing up to that is not easy but I have been doing it all my life.”

In her blog post, Shirley wrote about other experiences she’s had, including times where she went into restaurants and was told there were “no tables for my kind”.

“Another incident happened on the day after our wedding. My husband and I were travelling on the bus and two young girls, also passengers, were staring at us.

“After a couple of minutes, one girl came over to my husband and asked him: ‘Are you with this girl for a bet?’ We were left stunned and shocked.

“But Julian just said: ‘I am sorry to disappoint you, she is my wife and we got married only yesterday and she is the love of my life’. Then we got off the bus.”

Just like you can’t judge a book by the cover, don’t judge me by my skin colour.

Despite the comments she receives, Shirley said she keeps smiling and takes comfort in her faith.

“I have faced many racist remarks since I moved to the UK, but I still smile and carry on as I believe these people have to be taught that God loves each one of us irrespective of our caste, colour, creed, religion and ethnicity.

“He made us in His image and we need to be proud of it.

“When I moved to Wales, I was always acknowledged as the brown girl in the village.

“I was constantly asked if I paid to marry my husband in order to stay in this country.”

Shirley said she has often had to face people assuming she couldn’t speak English or that she is uneducated.

“People around me always made fun of my accent, some assumed that since I came from India I would not be educated and would probably only speak broken English and some assumed I was a Hindu,” she said.

“Just like you can’t judge a book by the cover, don’t judge me by my skin colour.

“When you get right down to it, there really is only one race — it’s called the human race.

“In that sense, we’re all brothers, equal in dignity and intrinsic value.”

Shirley’s full blog can be read at revshirleymurphy.co.uk/