English/Irish | Sri Lankan

I identify as an Anglo-Asian. My Father is from Sri Lanka and my Mother is half English and half Irish. I understand they met in Cambridge whilst my Father was at university.

I lived in Sri Lanka until the age of 13. When I returned to the UK it was all so strange and bewildering. As time went on I remember saying to my Father whilst I was visiting Sri Lanka, ‘here is no reason for me to go back to the UK, equally there is no reason for me to stay in Sri Lanka’.

I was probably quite naïve when I was younger about racism but I do remember the racial tension in the 70’s and 80’s when The National Front was active. I do feel that today we are too ready to blame things on the past. I believe we should accept what has happened and take responsibility for it and not just pull-down statues or change names for the sake of. Instead we should overtly state that this institution was founded on the slave trade, as an example.

My Mother spoke about the racial issues she had to face whilst traveling on the bus in England. My Father often was a few feet away trying not to associate with us. Interestingly both of my Grandparents apparently did not approve of my parents’ relationship, but in time they were very accepting of it.

Overall, I don’t think I have felt culturally isolated and believe I have had the best of both worlds. However, having now spent most of my life in UK and traveled around Western Europe a lot I now feel much more associated to the Western culture.

I believe you should accept who you are and look at the positives that your cultures offer. Accept others for who they are, this will give you a greater understanding of humanity. Don’t just presume one is better than the other, they all have their positives and negatives.

I have never hidden part of my identity. I remember someone making a racial slur towards me, my response ‘this is your problem not mine!’. As a gardener working in Central London I did come across comments like ‘he is a nice boy, well-educated boy etc’. One instance whilst I was cleaning the garden paths one of the customers came up to me and said why don’t you get someone from the boys scouts or the special needs center it would be cheaper to hire them. I remember thinking at the time how strange this was especially when they were the so-called elite members of society (Lords and Ladies).

I do respect the South Asian culture (having been brought up in it) in that it has respect and in general a much more caring extended family, which I have found lacking in Western cultures. Also showing respect to other forms of life, humans are not the only beings on earth. We also need to understand each other before challenging, this provides you with greater respect. We also must listen with an open heart.

I believe that mixed-race people are less well represented higher up the institutional organisation. I do think that institutional racism/colonialism is not properly understood or tackled in a constructive manner, it is much more of a reactive way. I also find to work your way up the career ladder so speak many embrace the institutional policies and procedures without thinking about its ethical and moral issues.