Afghan | Iranian

I am Afghan/Iranian and 25 years old. My father is from Tehran, Iran, and came to London at the age of 4 in 1963; and my mother is from Kabul, Afghanistan, and came to London in 1976 at the age of 19. I was 8 years old and 9/11 just happened. They got to know of Afghanistan very quickly since Al Qaeda resided there. Their only knowledge of Afghanistan became synonymous with terrorism. And this intensified with the July bombings. I was 12 years old and in secondary school, and unlike my primary school, it was not a good school at all. I’m a bit ashamed to say this but to avoid bullying and ridicule, I suppressed my Afghan heritage and just said to people that I’m Iranian. Sadly, made my time at school a little easier. One moment that I will never ever forget was shortly after 9/11. I was playing in my local park with some of the boys from my road. Whilst in the park we met some other boys that I didn’t know but a couple of my friends did. One of them mentioned 9/11 and the talk of Muslims and Afghans came up, and as a result one of my friends pointed at me and informed everyone that I was an Afghan and Muslim. In response to that, I heard ‘should we kill him?’. I love my culture and heritage and would not want to be anything else. I find it a privilege to speak Farsi, such a wonderfully poetic language that I apply to my use of English. But I would be lying if I said I never had wished I were something else to make life just a tiny bit easier. I find myself reluctantly defending my identity due to the media writing freely about the nations and religion I am connected with.
In regards to the future for people of mixed race, I believe that time is the answer. As time moves on, so does ideology. And in a way, mixed race people are helping uproot the prejudice, because perhaps we are able to bridge gaps where people can’t cross. Sometimes it can feel weird not having a complete connection to one country or culture, and it is something I struggle with; but I remind myself that my mixed background and relationship to western culture just means I am more connected to the world I live in, not just one country.

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