BEING MIXED RACE
Race-mixing has gone on for many years but now it is the fastest growing
‘race’ in the world. There has been positive and negative reactions. I will
now tell my story.
I was born in 1995 to my white English mother Emma and my black British
father Michael, who is of Jamaican descent. I don’t remember much about
that time but my mother told me that in infancy some older people would
give us dirty looks when she took me out in the pushchair. I can’t imagine
how my mother must have felt.
All I remember is that I grew up as a happy child and even though we hated
having our hair combed, me and my black and mixed race friends loved our
afros. It was in year 5 that I really started to think about my racial
identity. I went to seminar for mixed-race kids – they told us we were
special. It was then I realised what I am. After that day I wanted to know
more about all of my Jamaican roots. I tried plantain and sugar cane, ate
curried goat and I loved my afro more than ever.
Around the start of secondary school I had my hair deep-conditioned (making
it straight) which was both a practical and social decision. But later,
when I gained more confidence I combed my hair out and have done since. It
makes me feel like the little girl who has grown up. It had mixed
reactions, some thought it was good and others thought it was
unsophisticated.
When people ask stupid questions like ‘how black are you?’ I either answer
grudgingly or retaliate asking why it matters. As I grew up I started to
realise that some people would either see me as black or white but I don’t
want to deny either part of me.
Dareece James, March 2010 ©
Em
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BEING MIXED RACE
Race-mixing has gone on for many years but now it is the fastest growing
‘race’ in the world. There has been positive and negative reactions. I will
now tell my story.
I was born in 1995 to my white English mother Emma and my black British
father Michael, who is of Jamaican descent. I don’t remember much about
that time but my mother told me that in infancy some older people would
give us dirty looks when she took me out in the pushchair. I can’t imagine
how my mother must have felt.
All I remember is that I grew up as a happy child and even though we hated
having our hair combed, me and my black and mixed race friends loved our
afros. It was in year 5 that I really started to think about my racial
identity. I went to seminar for mixed-race kids – they told us we were
special. It was then I realised what I am. After that day I wanted to know
more about all of my Jamaican roots. I tried plantain and sugar cane, ate
curried goat and I loved my afro more than ever.
Around the start of secondary school I had my hair deep-conditioned (making
it straight) which was both a practical and social decision. But later,
when I gained more confidence I combed my hair out and have done since. It
makes me feel like the little girl who has grown up. It had mixed
reactions, some thought it was good and others thought it was
unsophisticated.
When people ask stupid questions like ‘how black are you?’ I either answer
grudgingly or retaliate asking why it matters. As I grew up I started to
realise that some people would either see me as black or white but I don’t
want to deny either part of me.
Dareece James, March 2010 ©