English/Irish | Mauritian
My Mum was from South Africa, born to a Mauritian Mother and French Mauritian Father. Mum's Grandmother was French Mauritian and her Grandfather we believe was either Mauritian, Javanese, African mixed. My Dad is half English, half Irish.
My Mum moved from Durban, South Africa to London in the 70's to work as a nurse. My Dad was a police officer at the time and back then there were a lot of nurse/ police functions I'm told. I have a large family and most of my Mum's sisters moved to England shortly after her. They too married Irish men. We spent a lot of time with our extended family and as a result I remember a lot of parties and holiday celebrations. My Uncle’s both play the guitar so Irish folk songs were the soundtrack to mine, my sister and my cousin's childhood. My Mum and aunties would always cook a fantastic Durban curry too. Although my Mum was Mauritian she was born in South Africa and this is very much the culture she identified with. We've always considered ourselves half African.
I always look upon my Grandparents relationship very fondly. They were married during Apartheid in South Africa. My Grandfather was White and my Grandmother Black. My Mum told me some awful stories from that time and the idea of an interracial couple defying Apartheid has always been such a wonderful thing for me.
Outside of my own family I've never really felt like I truly fit in anywhere. I've always looked too White to really be considered a person of colour but also I don't really look White either. The first time it became apparent to me that I didn't look totally White was when I moved to a village school. This school at the time was almost entirely attended by White pupils. At no point did I experience any racial abuse but I was met with a degree of curiosity. My first day on the school bus I remember being asked ‘are you Indian’, ‘are you mixed-race, ‘where are you from?’. There was no malice intended and I certainly wasn’t upset about being the object of everyone’s curiosity, but I was surprised as it was the first time I had been singled out for my looks.
I'm so proud of my mixed background. I've always considered myself somewhat of a chameleon as when I go on holiday I'm able to blend in with so many nationalities. I've only visited South Africa once when I was two and have never been to Ireland. I don't have much family left in South Africa as they've all moved to other parts of the world and I don't feel like I have much connection with Mauritius as my Mum never grew up there. I would love to go though.
As a child I do remember times when I wished I was White. Most of my friends were and like most children I didn't like to feel different. Looking back I have no idea why this was. No one made me feel different and it was really only me acknowledging that I wasn't totally White. As an adult I love being mixed-race. Most people assume I'm White, Italian, Israeli or Turkish and I always love how interested people are when I tell them of my relatively unusual heritage.
If I had the opportunity to be reborn I wouldn't want to change a thing. I'd do it all over again.
I've always identified as mixed/ other on official documents. My Wife is White and my two sons have Blonde hair and fair skin. It's a strange one as I never know what to identify them as on school documents etc. They spend a lot of time with my Aunties (and did with my Mum before she passed away). Being Mauritian my Aunties are clearly of colour and sometimes will collect my boys from nursery. It seems strange to say my sons are White when they clearly have Black family?
As for everyone, the pandemic has been difficult but I'm at home with my family so certainly can't complain.
I think it's a wonderful thing that the inequality and prejudices POC face are being brought to light and I hope we will move in a positive direction where one day we look back on history and be in utter disbelief that such a thing as racial inequality ever existed. I don't know where I fit during it all though. I can in no way say I've experienced everyday discrimination in my life. For the most part I look quite White but that being said I have certainly experienced the odd instance of racial prejudice. One instance when I was with my Mum and Auntie in particular will stay with me forever.