WITH race relations at the forefront of many people's minds, the MS who was both the first Muslim and first non-white politician to be elected to the Senedd has reflected on his experiences of racial prejudice.

Mohammad Asghar, who has represented South Wales East in Cardiff Bay since 2007, said the killing of Minneapolis man George Ford earlier this month by a white police officer "has triggered a movement that no one could have predicted".

But the Conservative MS said the persecution of people of colour across the world had been "considered 'the norm'".

"In 2020, I would have expected and hoped the world had moved on," he said. "It saddens me to say, this is not the case.

"Racism does exist, in places of work, places of worship, educational institutions and everyday life."

Mr Asghar - who was born in an area of what was then British India, and is now in Pakistan - said that he had experienced racism in many forms, from being made to add up all of the numbers in the Yellow Pages as part of a job interview, to washing the car of his then boss - tasks other, white applicants were not asked to do.

"I was under the impression that, with the advancement of technology and science, people's mentality would have changed," he said. "In no way am I saying 'the whole wide world is racist'. Not at all.

"But, it's only because prejudicial actions are being filmed and brought to our attention via social media that people from all countries, backgrounds, and faiths are seeing the realities of the experiences that people of colour go through."

READ MORE:

Mr Asghar, commonly known as 'Oscar', also spoke of how his daughter Natasha, a TV presenter, had struggled to land a job in broadcasting due to inbuilt prejudice

"She was told 'why would you want to work for us? When you have channels like ZEE TV or PTV for people like you'," he said. "I discovered that these such jobs are not advertised, unless there is a specific quota to be filled.

"It's the first time that I saw with my own eyes how my British-born and educated child lost faith in equality.That made me very sad as a parent and as a human."

He also spoke of how he had experienced inequality that "none of my colleagues would ever have to face".

"None of them can possibly understand the hurdles I have had to jump over to keep my job and no one can even begin to comprehend the levels of discrimination and hardship my family have experienced due to simply being my wife and child," he said.

Mr Asghar went on to say that, although he is a firm supporter of freedom of speech, he was "rather taken aback" by the scale of recent Black Lives Matter protests.

"To achieve a positive change we have to ensure change is brought about peacefully and properly," he said. "Racism should not be seen as a 'topic of the day.'

"We can do this, there is light at the end of the tunnel."