Scottish | Indian Creole/Chinese/La Réunionese/Malagasy
Despite feeling very fortunate to have this mixed background I cannot fully relate to any of my cultures, a result of mixed-race children with mixed-race parents and Grandparents. Perhaps reinforced by having moved a lot, there is a real sense of being just outside a cultural sphere, and not quite feeling enough of anything.
Because of my Dad's work our family has always travelled. I was born in Belgium, brought up in Cheshire, moved to live in France at the age of 10 and then came to London to finish high school. Later I travelled to China, and my parents followed suit to live there for 5 years. We were lucky to learn French as young children, and even some Mandarin. I am very similar to my Mum in that I love languages and understand how helpful a tool they are to connect with different cultures and communities. It is because of this I studied linguistics, and later discovered Speech and language therapy. I now work with people who have complex communication difficulties as a consequence of acquired brain injuries.
I am lucky to have a very loving family, and within that a twin sister, who gives me probably the ultimate sense of belonging. We are non identical and look quite different. Growing up we always felt that my sister had slightly more African features than me, I looked more Asian or southern European. A recent DNA Heritage test seemed to confirm our theory, revealing a small difference in both our African vs Asian DNA representations. Although we were brought up in the same environment, we seem to relate to others differently just as others respond to us differently.
Whilst trying to piece together my opinions on identity and race, I have discovered the complex systems embedded in my own parents. My Dad is not a stranger to microaggressions and battles still now with the concept of White privilege; my Mum, on the other hand, has lived a life 'fitting in', accepting and seeking belonging. All topics of conversation are welcomed at home, but this one has become an increasingly tense one. But this can only mean that a positive shift is happening.
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