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