Dutch | Senegalese

I feel like I am Dutch just as much as I feel Senegalese. I really learned everything from both worlds but because I grew up here I know how it is to be Dutch and live here. I know less about growing up as me in Senegal.

My mum was born in 1965 and raised in Senegal. She came to the Netherlands in 1992. My dad was born in 1954 in Sydney, Australia. His parents are both Dutch. My grandfather decided to immigrate after the Second World War, so my father was born there. They went back to the Netherlands by boat in 1959.

My parents met in Senegal in 1990. My father’s sister immigrated to Senegal for a job as an English teacher in an international school in Dakar. My father went to visit her and her husband in 1990. My mother was living at the husband’s mom place. On a visit my mother walked into the room and she immediately caught his attention. They clicked and when my father left they wrote to each other for two years, they were married in 1995.
I always knew I was from to totally different backgrounds, because we would go on vacation to Senegal every year, beginning when I was 6 months old.

I make friends with everyone regardless where they come from, also if I date a person their background does not affect my choice. I am only interested in their personality. I remember a few incidents where I felt race was a factor in my progression. I had passed a telephone interview and was now invited to a face to face interview. During the interview I noticed by the look on the interviewers faces that they expected a white girl instead of me. Another instance was when I failed my driver's license test. I had already failed 3 times at this point, 2 of these times without making any mistakes. My teacher told me that if I would be a blond girl with blue eyes I would have passed. Also, when I moved to Enschede (Netherlands) I got bullied because of my different looks and skin color.

If I were to be born again I’d choose the same cultural background, but that doesn’t take away the fact that my life would be easier if I would choose to be white.

I feel like we are getting more and more aware of how it feels to come from a mixed-race background.

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