British | Dominican
I would identify myself as being ethnically mixed White and Black Caribbean. My mum is White British and my dad, although his genetic background is from Dominica, is also British (he was born in the UK). I can’t remember the exact context in which this occurred, but as a child (around 6/7 years old) I had a friend say to me once ‘Oh, I didn’t know your dad was Black’. I think that was possibly the first time I realised that that wasn’t the case for everyone else, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I’m fairly ‘light’ for someone who is mixed-race which sometimes people readily point out, but it doesn’t bother me! I don’t think I’ve ever felt that being mixed has been a hindrance to me, but that might be because of my skin colour. I’m British, just with an added quirk, and I embrace that as much as I can. I think it’s really cool to have this extra aspect to my character that a lot of people don’t have the privilege of having, but at the same time I appreciate that it hasn’t always been viewed this way, and still isn’t by a lot of people. Hearing of the prejudice my parents experienced being together and having a family makes me really quite angry that they went through that, but I’m also glad that times appear to be changing for the better. I honestly would not want to change my racial background if I was given the opportunity. I understand that I probably feel this way as I haven’t felt a great deal of animosity towards me based on being mixed race, and I’m very lucky in that sense. I’ve liked seeing more mixed-race people feature in film, tv and adverts, especially families. I love that mixed and other Black and minority ethnic people feel more and more liberated to celebrate their unique qualities as time passes. I think people on social media has had a great influence around this, like encouraging women to have confidence in wearing their hair naturally and reinforcing that it shouldn’t matter if you don’t conform to Western beauty standards, as we all have much more to offer beyond our looks.
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