Dutch | Curacao

I identify as myself, Shorombo. I am no label, no race, I am just me. I was born and raised in The Netherlands but have lived in Curacao and Mexico. My dad is Dutch, and my mom is from Curacao. They both worked at a psychiatric hospital where they met, soon after they developed a romantic relationship. I have always understood my different cultural backgrounds because we went to Curacao every five years. Everybody found my mom to be really interesting so you feel that you have a special mom.

I grew up in a predominantly white environment and never experienced my different cultural backgrounds as a factor in making friendships. I was more Dutch than anything else, though having some different interests and views. I think there will always be bias attitudes and stereotypes towards any subculture mixed race people in general. I think it is always more towards the foreign roots of somebody who is mixed.

Having said that, I’ve never experienced my mixed heritage to be any issue, in most situations I’ve been in I have experienced it as a plus. In general, people in Holland find people of mixed heritage very interesting. I have experienced the bias attitude to be mostly positive.

Being mixed race has always played a role in my personal development. When growing up I never felt quite at home in Holland but when living in Curacao I didn't feel entirely Curasaleno either. In terms of finding my identity it did play a role but helped me stay very true to myself. My conclusion is that my identity is not tied to my heritage nor the country that I live in. Everywhere I go I am myself. When people try guessing my heritage it’s funny because they never get it right. I am just Shorombo. To me it means I am who I am. Wherever I am, not this nor that, I am just me. This gave me so much freedom because now, I don’t have to mirror myself anymore.

Yet being mixed race has affected my relationships. Although I have been raised fully Dutch, I don't feel much of the cultural traditions and the way people act and do things. This has always made it difficult to connect because most people do live by the cultural code more or less. I always felt like an outsider, thus I grew up like a kind of a loner. But If I came back to this world, I would still love to be born the same.