What “my kind” of people means
When I was in IKEA once in Phoenix with my ex-husband, an Indian couple stopped me and asked me if was from India. I said yes and a conversation ensued. I was both put off by these strangers’ impertinent question and delighted by it, because, in actuality, every time I see an Indian person out…
Dating as a bi-cultural person
I wasn’t allowed to date or even talk to boys growing up. This was a cultural ethos backed up by religion and the custom of arranged marriages and no premarital sex under any circumstances. My father was a very serious and very strict man and his number one priority was to protect his family. He…
Internalized racism
I always wanted to be white. It all may have begun with the show WKRP in Cincinatti. This was one of the few shows that was broadcast on the very limited TV channels we had in Mozambique, a communist state at the time with programming that was mostly state-sponsored. I remember in addition to WKRP in…