Scottish | Ghanaian – NHS Senior Project Manager
I identify as mixed-race. My Mum is from Scotland and my Dad is from Ghana, they met in Nursing college in Scotland. Both of my parents worked in the NHS (mostly within community nursing) for 25+ years.
Most recently I’ve found it challenging to be English and British. When I was younger, probably through education and general societal norms living in the UK, I felt proud to be British. I think it’s something that was taught and engrained from a young age. Recently, I feel slightly more torn on this. The role of the British empire in slavery hasn’t ever really exactly been at the front of mind but the recent discussion on statues like those of Edward Colton in Bristol and fairly recent highlighting of the ‘slave compensation’ paid to former slave owners up until 2015. The latter of which means for 10+ years the tax I have paid as part of my working life may have gone towards compensating former slave owners for their loss of ‘property’, who may have in turn been my own descendants. There’s never been, as I understand, an apology issued by the British government for its role in slavery to the people it enslaved. This combined with the fallout from Brexit, the rise of discrimination and abuse of minorities that closely followed and the rise of ‘English’ nationalism seems to have had a detrimental impact on the tolerance for immigrants and those that have emigrated to this country to either create a better life for themselves and their families (like the Windrush generation), whilst also carrying out many of the jobs which saw so many on the frontline during the COVID pandemic.
I don't know too much about my parents relationship or their generation. They divorced when I was very young. I presume it's much more common to see interracial relationships now, especially in the bigger cities where immigration is much more common. In London I don't think it's much of an issue now especially with the city being such a melting pot of different people and cultures.
Being mixed, at times, feels like being in the middle of two very polar opposites. I have (especially during the current movement) felt as though it may not be my place to discuss race and offer my viewpoint. However I also feel that I should do what I can to support and to try and make things better if I can.
I last visited Ghana in 2015 and 2018. I’ve been in Ghana for both big birthday celebrations and for funerals of family members, I feel I’ve learnt a lot about culture through those. On the visit in 2015, I went with my Dad and younger brothers to the Cape Coast and we visited the El Mina Slave Castle to learn more about the history there. I visited Scotland in 2019 and spent many school holidays there when I was younger.
I'm relatively new to the NHS (just over a month in) and obviously starting during the second wave of the pandemic is far from normal circumstances. I don't think I feel like I need any specific considerations. I sought out the BAME staff network when I joined and am interested in getting involved in that. Being a mixed-race male, I often feel that people (who don't know me) can treat me very differently in different situations. I often think this is down to what I wear. As a professional, if I'm well dressed, generally I feel more respected, but often if I'm going to the gym or I've just finished a run, I'll be in sportswear and much more casual and I feel, often, I'm treated differently. I've been told many times that I'm well spoken, presumably because I don't sound or speak in a way people expect when they look at me. I always thought it was complimentary but only recently I've really thought about what people actually mean when they say it. For some reason when they see me, they don't expect to hear an educated person speaking. So why is that? Again it could be the way that I dress (sometimes) or specifically because I'm mixed-race.
I haven’t seen anything like the current BLM movement in my lifetime before and personally, I feel that I need to do everything I can to try and make things better for the younger generations. I know that there are many elements of institutional racism and bias that have affected me directly over the years, specific areas like applying for jobs where I know statistically (based on studies that have been conducted) I may be disadvantaged because I have an African surname. As a mixed-race person specifically, I understand that I have a certain amount of privilege that I can use to try and make things better for others, Black people (like my Dad and my brothers) specifically.
I’m Founder of London based run crew @LDNBrunchClub so I generally try to run at least twice a week and I usually do one or two workouts in the gym, although during lockdown they were all home based. I’ve also been cycling much more regularly and for longer periods, especially now I'm working from home and have more free time from not needing to cycle commute. I feel like I've really found a new sense of freedom on the bike.
During lockdown especially, being able to cycle indoors and do short workouts felt invaluable. I was actually unemployed for the vast majority of this year, through circumstance and then due to COVID, and I think being able to keep exercising during this very stressful time was essential to support my own mental health.