British | Indian
In the context of the University of Oxford, we hope our names; faces and stories will emphasis that there is a place for everyone at Oxford. According to last year’s admissions data, 700 Oxford undergraduates identify as mixed. In 2016, BAME students accounted for 15.9% of the undergraduate intake. Oxford is diversifying, albeit slowly. We hope to empower mixed heritage students at Oxford and foster a community where they can safely share their own opinions, experiences and stories.
I was born in South Africa and my Mother’s family are Kenyan Asian, so I identify with those aspects of my heritage too. My Mum is Punjabi, born in Nairobi, Kenya. My Dad is British, born in West Devon, with English and Scottish heritage. I like to visit India when I can, and often people there quite like it, they call me a ‘mixed vegetable’ (after the curry). They are also pleasantly surprised when a White-looking bloke from England can speak their language. Also, in Oxford the Mixed-Race Society is full of really lovely people so the events are always great. I chose Somerville College in part because of the large mixed-heritage and state school community. I’ve experienced some pretty non-casual racism where another student pretty viciously told me to go back to Africa. It was quite upsetting to be honest, but I saw it as a good opportunity to practice forgiveness, so I shook his hand and put it behind me. Other than that people here are very culturally aware. I’ve experienced less racism here than other environments I’ve lived in in the past. My Mum always said that there will always be racism, but if you get an education and a bit of money you can move away from it. Although I’m more interested in trying to change it. I do on the whole think that Oxford has a welcoming environment. It’s not as White as people think, there are plenty of Asians particularly. Everywhere has a few difficult people, but nearly everyone is really nice. My experiences at Oxford have made me less aware of my status as a mixed-race person if anything. It’s really not a big deal here, whereas in very White environments, such as the military, it’s a bit different. I think our racial discourse focuses on other under-represented groups, but I don’t have a problem with that personally. I feel that the Oxford Mixed Heritage Society has given me a sense of community and belonging at Oxford. It’s a great society to meet people and has brilliant events and speakers, I really recommend it.
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