Mixed Up: ‘There are certain elements of English life that Iranian culture would deem totally disgusting’Posted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, United Kingdom on 2018-12-19 00:39Z by Steven |
Metro UK
2018-12-12
Natalie Morris, Senior Lifestyle Writer
Welcome to Mixed Up, a series looking at the highs, lows and unique experiences of being mixed-race.
Mixed-race is the fastest-growing ethnic group in the UK. It means your parents hail from two (or more) different ethnicities, leaving you somewhere in the middle.
In 2001, when the ‘mixed’ categories were first introduced to the national census, mixed-race people made up 1.3% of the population. Fast-forward 10 years, and that figure almost doubles to 2.3%.
It’s a trajectory that’s unlikely to slow down.
Alongside the unique pleasures and benefits of being exposed to multiple cultures, being mixed comes with complexities, conflicts and innate contradictions.
Ariana, founder of Sweat & Sound, is half Persian and half British. The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group that make up half of the population of Iran – they have their own language, Farsi.
Some schools of thinking class Persians as technically Caucasian, but recent census categorisation changes in the US have definied Iranian and Middle-Eastern heritage as different to white…
…Ariana identifies as mixed. She says her family is made up of a combination of intensely different cultural traditions.
But because of her appearance, her light skin and European features, she says she’s often assumed to be white by both English and Iranian people.
‘I actually find it really frustrating to be honest,’ Ariana tells Metro.co.uk…
Read the entire article here.