Mixed Race Studies

“Well, I’ve always identified myself as black… and mixed kind of simultaneously. But as far as my identity, I see my mixed-race as being part of a broader black experience, or within the African diaspora. I don’t see that as a white experience or an Austrian experience, just because I see myself as a black woman or a black person within a place where it’s predominantly white. So I know that whiteness is not something I’m a part of, even though my mother is white and I have a cultural background as far as my Austrian side. But, to identify as white or solely as mixed without understanding how much my black experience and my blackness plays a part in my life, to me, just personally, I couldn’t do that.” —Annina Chirade

Kim Chakanetsa, “Being ‘Mixed Race’: Kira Lea Dargin and Annina Chirade,” The Conversation on BBC World Service, May 11, 2015. (00:14:20-00:14:38). http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qm960.

“I identify as both [black (Australian Aboriginal) and white]. So you know and I’ve had no secret of who I am and what my background is. I think that it’s important for me to identify strongly as both because it’s quite evident that I’m not particularly one or the other. You know, I’m one of those people who looks mixed-race. So you’re going to look at me and immediately say, ‘what are you?’ And so just being able to relate and identify strongly with both of my cultural backgrounds is something that’s really important for me.” —Kira Lea Dargin

Kim Chakanetsa, “Being ‘Mixed Race’: Kira Lea Dargin and Annina Chirade,” The Conversation on BBC World Service, May 11, 2015. (00:14:20-00:14:38). http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qm960.

Being ‘Mixed Race’: Kira Lea Dargin and Annina Chirade

BBC World Service
The Conversation
2015-05-11

Kim Chakanetsa, Presenter

Left: Kira Lea Dargin. Credit: Claire Mahjoub, SSH. Right: Annina Chirade. Credit: Adu Lalouschek

Kira Lea Dargin’s parents met at church. Her mother is white from a Russian family who emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, and her father is Aboriginal Australian. Being “mixed” Kira says, means constantly having to explain how you came about or how your family manages to blend. Having come through some difficult times as a teenager Kira now happily identifies with both of her cultural backgrounds. As the director of ‘Aboriginal Model Management Australia‘, her mission is to help broaden how Australian beauty is defined.

Annina Chirade describes herself as Ghanaian Austrian. She is the founder and editor of Rooted In magazine. When she was growing up, between London and Vienna, people would often question whether she was related to her fair, straight-haired mother. After many years obsessively straightening her own “kinky, curly, Afro-” hair as a teenager, she found her own style – inspired by the confident styles of black female singers like Erykah Badu. Annina says that when you are ‘mixed-race’ people make assumptions about your identity and consider it to be “up for debate”, but she is clear that “whiteness is not something I’m a part of.”

Listen to the interview here. Download the episode (00:26:55) here.