Tinie Tempah and Lennie James discuss experiences of racism in new documentary

Rapper Tinie Tempah and actor Lennie James are among the celebrities who have spoken out about their experiences of racism for a new documentary.

Channel 4 programme The Talk features the stars discussing what advice they received about racism when they were younger and what they would tell those in the next generation.

Tempah said that “as a young black boy who’s grown up in an inner city London, Manchester, Birmingham, you are constantly targeted by the police”.

He added that he was once stopped by officers while he was driving through south London, listening to rap music.

“They were treating me like I was some mad criminal and then I forget why but they ended up taking the car,” he said.

The rapper recalled being stopped by officers while driving in South London (Dave Benett)

“I really just think that there’s a kind of tactic that’s really just used to kind of slowly break you down mentally or intimidate you or make you think (or) feel scared of white authority.”

He said that, as a parent, “it’s very easy to project your insecurities and your fears on to your child,” but said that his parents did not often do that and instead “have been able to produce just confident kids, kids who believe they have just as much of a chance as anyone else, kids who can dream … and that’s what I want to do for my kids.”

Line of Duty and The Walking Dead star James recalled how a police officer used racist language towards him after he was seen riding his bike on the pavement as a child.

“I mean, I don’t even know if I’d ever heard that word before at that point and I’d certainly not heard it in my direction, and it was a police officer saying it to an 11-year-old kid for riding his bike on the pavement,” he said.

James described how a police officer used racist language to him as a child (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for AMC)

“There is a notion, that has some validity, that things are better now and that they’re better now for the generations behind us than they were for us, and whatever part of that might be true it isn’t better, in the sense of it being good enough,” he added.

James said that “the talk” is necessary “because we need to arm our kids with what they need in order to get past it and beyond it and survive it.”

Rugby star Maro Itoje also took part in the programme, explaining how teachers would sometimes under-estimate him as he was growing up.

Itoje said he was underestimated by teachers at school (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

When a teacher was trying to talk him out of leaving school to study at a different sixth form, he said he was told he would not be able to cope academically.

The England player said he has become “more and more emboldened” to call out racism as he has got older.

Journalists Gillian Joseph and Gary Younge and broadcaster and Paralympian Ade Adepitan have also contributed to the programme.

The documentary comes after the death of George Floyd in the US sparked Black Lives Matter protests around the world.

Channel 4 is set to air a series of programmes exploring different aspects of the black experience in modern Britain.

The Talk will air on Channel 4 on Tuesday at 10pm.

With reporting by Press Association

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