'BBC Breakfast' host Naga Munchetty branded 'difficult' for calling out racism

Naga Munchetty has said when she addresses covert racism in daily life she is made to feel "difficult" for bringing it up.

The London-born BBC Breakfast host – whose mother is Indian and father is Mauritian – opened up on her experiences of racism in a BBC Panorama special Let's Talk About Race.

Munchetty, 46, admitted: “It’s hard to explain and often it’s not obvious.

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“It’s like when someone asks, ‘Where are you really from?’

“That’s telling, it makes me feel like I don't belong.

“And if I call it out, I’m being difficult, regardless, it chips away at you.”

The journalist and presenter also revealed she is still haunted by her very first experience of racism when she was just seven-years-old, admitting she can never forget it.

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She recalled: "You never forget the first time.

"I was seven when someone I thought was my friend at school said we could no longer hang out because I was a P-word...

"The sense of shame was overwhelming. I was told I didn’t belong when, up until then, I assumed I did. From that moment on, I knew I was seen as different."

In 2019 Munchetty was investigated by the BBC after complaints were made about a comment she made on BBC Breakfast, when she referred to then US president’s Donald Trump’s "go back home" tweet directed at four congresswomen as "embedded in racism".

Munchetty was at first found to be in breach of the BBC guidelines on impartiality but decision was overturned by the then director-general, Tony Hall.

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Munchetty, 44, shared a victory video on social media of her singing along to Hold On by Wilson Phillips laughing to camera as she sang the lyrics: “Until then baby are you going to let them hold you down and make you cry.

"Don't you know? Don't you know things can change. Things'll go your way if you hold on for one more day.”

Panorama: Let’s Talk About Race is now available on BBC iPlayer.

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