I’m Iraqi and I’m proud of that, but I’ve always struggled with where I fit. I grew up in a very white area, and my family experienced a lot of bullying and hostility because of that.
Me and my sisters are all quite pale, mostly taking after my dad’s side, but my mum has a darker, tan complexion. She was treated badly by her own family because of her skin tone, and I can see how much that’s stayed with her.
Even though I’m not white, I don’t always feel like I’m seen as “different enough” to fully relate to other people of colour, and that leaves me feeling stuck in between. I grew up in a Western environment without a strong cultural or religious connection, so I don’t feel fully rooted anywhere.
When I speak about my experiences, especially in spaces with other people of colour, I sometimes worry that I come across as privileged or like I don’t belong in those conversations. That’s not what I’m trying to do—I’m just trying to understand my identity and where I fit.
Edit : the part where me and my sister were seen as different and also bullied which I was definitely - I want to say it was overall that we just looked like iraqi women - we were and I think what made it so awkward is that we did not have women like us. It was mainly just Pakistani or black or white. But a lot of white. And the thing that stood at the most about us was our facial hair and body hair. I think the things for that was annoying it just the consistency of not knowing how to treat it because it’s quite curly but frizzy. I don’t drink or go or do things much that most white people like live do like going to the pub. I really just don’t even enjoy having conversations with them because I feel very different to them i mean , they feel like another group of people i dont fit in with except they get to have freedom of any oppression at all.