What it’s like growing up mixed race in Scotland |
What it’s like growing up mixed race in Scotland
The Social
BBC
2020-07-15
Aleisha Omeike, The Social contributor
Aleisha details her experience of growing up as a mixed-race person in Glasgow.
I grew up in an overwhelmingly white neighbourhood. I hated being different. Throughout my childhood, I would navigate and shape my racial identity based solely on my white Scottish heritage, often dismissing or denying my Black African roots.
I remember the first time I experienced racial abuse. I was around 5 years of age and I was at school. I had come out into the playground after lunch. Some girls in the year below me were pointing directly at me, shouting and dancing, calling me “blackie”. Turns out, that was just the start.
Since then, I have been labelled almost every racial slur in the book. The most common of these slurs is “half caste”. People do not realise how offensive “half caste” is. Calling someone half of anything is dehumanising and derogatory.
Throughout my childhood, I have been asked where I am from and people would not accept my answer. I grew up in a small town in North Lanarkshire. People found that fact hard to believe because of my skin colour…
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Tags: Aleisha Omeike, BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation, Glasgow, Scotland, The Social