‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
‘Black Because She is not White’: Navigating the Complexity of a Mixed-Race Identity
She grew up in a mostly white town. Her mother, who moved them there when she was six, wanted a ‘better’ life. At school her White friends would laugh when she ‘axed’ questions, so now she makes sure to ‘ask’ them. To this day, she corrects herself. As she adopts the ‘White’ behaviours of her friends it alienates her from her family. Why do you act like you’re white? I can’t believe you listen to rock music. You’re such a Malteser: White on the inside, Black on the outside…
‘I Didn’t Know I was Black Until Fourth Grade’: Growing Into My Blackness After a Blurred Sense of Racial Identity
I learned that I was black during recess. Kids told me that ‘I was the whitest black person they’d ever met’ and that ‘I talked so white’. This was extremely confusing at first. Where I grew up was the hub of any and every race that you could think of, and everybody was friends. So, when I became labelled as a white-black person, it didn’t make sense to me…