I have always struggled with my racial identity. My mother is Moroccan and Algerian, born and raised in Morocco. She speaks fluent Arabic and French. She identifies as Arabic. My father is Sudanese, and whilst his skin is dark and he identifies as Arab and like my mother he speaks Arabic as a first language.
I embrace my culture and am proud of my heritage. However, when it comes to ticking a box to state my race I always struggle. People usually assume I am mixed with white and black. They always assume my mother is white English and my father is black Jamaican for some reason. It irritates me because not all mixed looking people share that ethnic identification. The only options for mixed people are white British and black Caribbean or African, or white and Asian or Asian and black. There are hardly ever any options for Arabic.
Whilst people usually acknowledge I am of a mixed background, since starting uni my white peers often assume I am black and nothing else. They say I have afro hair, which I find hard to believe because my hair is soft and curly, and grows downwards, not upwards like an afro. They say I have dark skin despite my shade being similar to that of Beyoncé and Rihanna.
Black people on the other hand, call me light skinned and say I have "good" hair. They say they would love to have hair like mine and call it beautiful.
I've nonetheless struggled to place myself anyway racially, and as a result feel isolated and alone.
I embrace my culture and am proud of my heritage. However, when it comes to ticking a box to state my race I always struggle. People usually assume I am mixed with white and black. They always assume my mother is white English and my father is black Jamaican for some reason. It irritates me because not all mixed looking people share that ethnic identification. The only options for mixed people are white British and black Caribbean or African, or white and Asian or Asian and black. There are hardly ever any options for Arabic.
Whilst people usually acknowledge I am of a mixed background, since starting uni my white peers often assume I am black and nothing else. They say I have afro hair, which I find hard to believe because my hair is soft and curly, and grows downwards, not upwards like an afro. They say I have dark skin despite my shade being similar to that of Beyoncé and Rihanna.
Black people on the other hand, call me light skinned and say I have "good" hair. They say they would love to have hair like mine and call it beautiful.
I've nonetheless struggled to place myself anyway racially, and as a result feel isolated and alone.
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment