English | St. Kitts/Nevis
My Mum is from Yorkshire, England, my Father is from St Kitts and Nevis. I think ‘recognising’ being mixed-race is a question that doesn’t have a final answer to me. There is the obvious visual recognition that came from a young age; my Mum once told me a story of me in the bath when I was younger, trying to scrub my skin to become ‘White like her’, young me thinking I was dirty and had to get clean. This really is just recognition of being different and as sad as that story is when you’re 24 and looking back, the innocence and/or honest ignorance to the world is cute. This is a horrible thing to say and I would be interested to know if anyone feels the same, but I sometimes feel like being mixed-race gives me a couple extra points in job interviews. In this day and age there are actual quotas that companies have to meet to show that they’re ethnically diverse and the lack of BAME individuals within industries is shockingly low. I am good at my job and I am a good communicator, but I do sometimes feel like I am ticking a box. I learnt in a diversity and inclusion training session the quote that made me stop in my tracks and re-evaluate how I communicate with anyone which is; Impact over Intention. If you say something to someone and you cause upset or offence, you cannot justify your behaviour with ‘Oh I didn’t mean it’ or ‘Oh you know I’m kidding’. It is such a simple concept, but people need to wise up and really think about how they make others feel with some of the small things they say. If I were to be born again I would like to return exactly the same - only with longer and healthier hair! I am proud of what I am and what it stands for and I am proud of my Mum who is still raising me to care more about kindness and love than anything else, I think that what she teaches me makes me more me than where I’m from or what I identify as.
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