Irish | Jamaican
I identify myself as English with Irish and Jamaican descent, raised as a Catholic. I grew up in a small market town in the Northeast of England, where 3.8% of the population are minorities. My Mother is from Belfast, Northern Ireland and my Father is from Black River, Jamaica. My parents met in Catterick where my Father spent time stationed in the British army.
The Irish and Jamaican cultures have many similarities such as being warm people therefore it was easy for them to combine. Both cultures experienced major migration and found it challenging to integrate themselves within the British society due to the discrimination and racism they faced. What really contributed to a successful mix of culture in my family was the fact that my parents were both open minded and had a good understanding of where each other came from. My Mum was already familiar with the Jamaican culture that my Father grew up in, she and my father always promoted having an open mind to all cultures, it’s a family value.
My view on interracial relationships is the same as my parents, they embraced it and never doubted their choice to pursue connections outside of their own kind. I find it a positive thing and like my parents I know that many cultures can have similarities which can draw them together and create even stronger relationships. I was limited in choice where I grew up, therefore I only dated the cultural majority, such as White British. I chose a partner that was open minded about our cultural differences. I am married to a Canadian Italian, who has a lot of culture to offer to our relationship.
I enjoy the ‘guessing game’ that people play when they try to figure out where I am from. Growing up, this used to be a cause of frustration for me because people didn’t see me for who I was. As I got older, I began to see the more humorous side to it. Fortunately I have had the opportunity to travel in my career which has taken me too many different countries where locals also couldn’t guess where I was from, thus often mistaking me for one of their own. During my younger years I felt detached from the Jamaican side of my family since they were all in a different part of the country but now that I live in London I’ve been able to embrace that part of me again with the opportunities to enjoy Jamaican food and music.
Due to where I grew up, I stood out more and I was treated differently. I didn’t know what racial abuse was until secondary school. I received a lot of racial abuse in my teenage years, sometimes others had to point it out to me that it was happening. When I first signed up to Facebook on the internet, I received a lot of racial hate from various people in the community through emails and Facebook. I’ve also had members of my community approach me and ask me if I speak English. I was racially abused playing a school football game. When these types of instances happened, I felt like I wasn’t wanted and the only people I could share these struggles with was my family, this led to me feeling a sense of displacement because I didn’t have a community that I could identify with.
Now that I live in London, I’ve been able to reconnect with my Jamaican roots by roaming different Caribbean influenced areas such as Brixton. I connect with my Irish side mostly through music, as I really enjoy Irish music and the love for it was brought on by my Irish grandmother who could dance, sing and in her youth spoke fluent Gaelic. I am also interested in the history of Ireland and Jamaica, when I have the time I enjoy reading about up about both countries. I have only visited Ireland with my Mum to see where she grew up and where our relatives lived.
When I was younger my outlook on being mixed-race was troubled due to the racial abuse I experienced, I didn’t see myself as different, but others did. I am content with being mixed-race/of dual heritage now as an adult. I like the idea of this campaign promoting that mixed-race individuals deserve recognition for both sides of their heritage. For example, Barack Obama has only been regarded as being the first Black President and to me this ignores his mixed-race identity, he should be celebrated for having dual heritage. As I get older, I hope that I’ve already been through the worst of being mixed-race and after living in London I don’t predict being mixed-race will be a hindrance in my future.
Parliament is incredibly inclusive of my mixed-race identity. Parliament offers an entire Diversity and Equality department. There are a variety of different ethnicities working here who are accommodated for and work here with complete transparency.
If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would be happy to come back as myself.