Tackling mixed race stereotypes and identity crisis

hi everyone

my name is simran pawar sachin morali i

have

so many names and that brings me into

the topic that we’re going to be talking

about today

which is mixed-race stereotypes and

identity crisis now before i begin

um i just like to say

to ted my mom says hi she thinks you’re

an actual person so

she sends her regards uganda is a

country where everyone is

embraced you know uh uganda is a home

for everyone

you know i can genuinely say this and

like cross my heart hope to die and

you know this is this is home you know

uh most of the times

we have friends who go out to study in

other parts of africa

to study in you know the uk the states

and the one thing they do as soon as

they get there is start posting

oh my god i miss home i miss you again

like why did you go

you know like you chose to go you’re

gone you’re gone

are you nothing so uganda is home

to everyone whether you leave whether

you stay whether you’re coming through

for the very first time

this is home now uganda is my home

and every home has its challenges

one of the biggest ones in uganda is

people do not really understand the

concept of being mixed race

now this is a conversation that so many

people are uncomfortable having because

well these days in this generation you

cannot say anything about race and not

offend someone

but i’m not looking forward to offending

anyone today it’s not what i do that’s

not how i roll

today i actually just want to genuinely

speak about some of the stereotypes that

come

from uganda directed towards mixed race

people

number one being mixed race

does not mean you’re necessarily

supposed to be

light-skinned now this is a problem that

i have all the time

people are always trying to guess my

ethnicity

my background where i’m from and

honestly they have a really really

difficult time doing it because

i’m i’m very mixed you know

my quick history in my background my dad

is indian

my mom is kenyan ugandan

throwing a bit of caribbean with the

amount of anime i watch i’m japanese by

choice

by choice and

i’m big we’re basically there’s people

who have married into

my family that have come through with

their own culture their own traditions

and this is something that we have we’re

multi-racial

now so many people will think that being

mixed race means you have to be

light-skinned no it doesn’t necessarily

mean that now there’s a difference

between mixed race and mixed cast

you can be a mixed-cast person meaning

that

let’s say your dad is from northern

uganda your mom is from eastern uganda

you know that is your mixed cast now

mixed race

is uh let’s say i’m afro-asian

caribbean now let’s say someone else is

um

african white i don’t know if there’s

such a thing as african white we really

consider it as africans in africa

everyone’s just african you’re just

you know but there’s so many different

types of people that are you know

mixed race and it doesn’t necessarily

mean that because i can be

jamaican african and be dark skinned but

i’m still mixed race so that’s the first

stereotype

the second stereotype and this one’s in

terms of relationships most of the times

in uganda if they see

a very dark-skinned woman going out with

a very

white man people automatically think

she’s in it for the money

you know it’s we don’t want your center

we make our own money

we make our own money you know what i’m

saying so

that is another stereotype that needs to

be tackled it is possible and it’s

very likely that the two are in love

it’s not just a money thing

thirdly mixed-race boys

are heartbreakers now this one’s a

little bit true

it’s a little bit true i’m not gonna lie

it’s a little bit true but it’s also a

stereotype there’s so many mixed-race

boys

who are loyal very loyal it can happen i

hear someone laughing in the audience

but it can happen

i don’t know if it can happen but i i’m

vouching for it it can happen

okay another thing i get is

if you are a mixed-race

child to a single mother

people automatically assume they don’t

even they don’t even consider the fact

that oh maybe

maybe the father passed away it

automatically turns into

this child is the product of fornication

before marriage

and the dad decided you know what spot

you i’m done here

that’s another stereotype that needs to

be stopped

you know now i’m talking about all these

stereotypes and all these problems that

people

genuinely you know faced as mixed race

people

but the reason that’s why i’m bringing

this up is because

stereotypes tend to be a leading factor

to leading into i forgot what i was

about to say

so i’m just gonna i’m just gonna yes

stereotypes tend to be the biggest

factor to leading people into identity

crisis

now identity crisis is a pretty big deal

too

you know so like i told you guys my

dad’s indian

my mom’s what my mom is but when you ask

my baby sister

what do you identify as she tells people

she’s eritrean

and and i think about it and i’m like

what part of our parents is eritrean you

know

because it becomes so difficult for us

to walk in town i mean

when i introduce myself to someone hi

i’m sims

and um i’m ugandan i hold a ugandan

passport

i’m ugandan the first thing they’re

gonna say is

what no you can’t be

you’re make you’re something else what

are you what are you really

the first thing they automatically think

is she’s arab

i go with that sometimes i’m like yes

salam alaikum how are you doing

i am arab you know i am arab let’s go

with it so i do understand when my 12

year old sister tells me

that she tells people she’s eritrean or

ethiopian

but i don’t want my 12 year old sister

to lose her identity in creating this

false reality for herself

just so that she can give people an

answer satisfactory enough

for them

i feel like mixed-race

people should be embraced

we should be appreciated we should be

accepted into society

because we have the hardest time trying

to pick between sides

now there’s so many parts to being

mysteries don’t don’t get me wrong don’t

think oh my gosh she’s just sticking to

the bad side

being mixed race must be really really

trash no honestly it’s not i’m just

sticking to the bad side like it is but

there is a good side to being mixed race

firstly you get to

embrace and be involved in so many

cultures

at the same time you know you’ve got

your dad’s people your mom’s people

you’ve got the extended family and it’s

it’s just beautiful being

in that you know and then the second

thing the second part

is you learn different languages maybe

you don’t

necessarily know how to speak them but

you can pick up

on it when someone’s talking so those of

you who think i don’t understand what

you’re saying

check yourselves okay i know what you’re

saying

i might not but i do and um

genuinely being mixed race is fun

because

not only do you have this difference in

culture and opinion and all that it’s

more like

you also get to share these things with

the world i personally do not keep it to

myself

you know i tend to embrace it and talk

to so many people about it i tell my

friends about you know

how many different things i have in my

family how many different cultures we

have how many different

you know um languages foods

all that stuff it makes you different i

feel like humanity’s biggest problem is

accepting differences

and as mixed race people honestly

i strongly believe that

mixed-race people can bridge the gap

because

as much as yes i’m half of this and i’m

half of that it can be a uniting factor

you know bring people together

explore diversity that’s how i feel

about it i don’t know how you guys feel

about it

but do let me know and thank you so much

you