Fijian | English…

Photo credit: provided by subject

…Irish/Scottish/Dutch/German

My Mother and her parents were born in Australia but my Great Grandparents are English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch/German. The only Australians that are indigenous to this country are our First Nations People who are also not Australian Aboriginal. The reason why I say Dutch/German is because of World War 2 and the border changes. My Mums family are not 100% sure if one of my Grandfathers were from the Netherlands or Germany. Also my Mum has red hair (just an interesting fact about me).

My parents met when my Mother flew to Fiji for a scripture union camp in her 20s. They divorced before my birth but were together when my sister was born (she is 18 months older) so there was a lot of uncertainty when identifying who I was and how to be a part of both cultures simultaneously. I experienced both cultures away from each other and struggled to find my place.

I believe at the end of the day we might look different but we all want to be loved, understood, accepted and cared for by someone who can help us grow and progress effectively in the most positive way possible physical, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

When I was younger I used to tell people I was either part African/African-American or Maori because there was no Fijian or Melanesian represented in music/music videos, cinema/TV. Only in rugby more lately then back in the 90s and early 2000s, at least this is what I have seen.

We should be with people who are genuine to us and are willing to help us. Someone who is also a best friend who we can communicate effectively with and come to reasoning. We place divisions on each other and label each other because that's the easiest thing to do and that’s how we are able to identify with that race but we are all one race which is human beings.

I think my parents/grandparents generation would accept the majority of interracial relationships these days especially if their children or grandchildren were in a healthy relationship. Personally I think they have an older way of thinking because they are from an older generation which affects them to understand other races and may say or do things unintentionally to insult other races or act inappropriate even though they may mean well. It may come across as discrimination or racism. I think it’s also having been uneducated and only going off a point of view that a minority of people in that race have. Or occasions that have affected them negatively and make a whole assumption on the race. Some don’t like change and don’t want any interracial relationships I believe because it effects their morals, ethics and way of life and it’s what the last generation has taught them. They don’t want that to be changed in future generations. I also believe there is a lot of that generation who have changed and usually by a son or a daughter having a child with a partner from a different race which changes them completely the majority of the time.

Non-Black/Brown people have told me it’s alright to say a racial slur around because I’m not African or African-American and my people were never slaves (even though South sea islanders were sold to Australia as slaves and called kanakas, or another term was used called ‘Black birding’). I was bullied a lot as a kid/teenager about my name, my hair & my skin colour. I recall being about 7 to 10 years old and telling my Mum I wanted to be White.

We need equal opportunities and a change in some education systems where we are taught the older way of learning/teaching or taught one learning style for one culture/race. Also systems are put in place to advantage people of certain races by putting government housing in poorer areas where they have less teachers & higher crime rates. Some systems are also built from high level corruption. Also the media has a way to make people change their minds on certain views either being political, social, race, cultures, religions. This can be either social media, TV, newspapers, magazines. They need to discard their opinion on what’s happening. Also the internet needs to be policed properly in my opinion.

Positives are I have come to embrace my identity and learnt to love who I am. I try my hardest to not let people get to me, even though it affected me as a child and even in my early 20s. I have built the resilience to love who I am. The lessons I have learned are priceless and some of them you would never be able to learn even if you studied them.

I visited Fiji for the first time in December by myself (it was also the first time I left Australia). The feeling was one I’ll never forget, seeing my family in the village for the first time and seeing where my Dad grew up, where my Grandmother was buried. It made me feel like the piece that was missing was finally found. I also found out I’m next in line for chief of my clan.

As for my English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch & German sides (my Mother’s side) as soon as the borders are open I want to head to Europe and see where my Great Grandparents were from.