Mixed Up is a weekly series that aims to get to the heart of what it means to be mixed-race in the UK today.
The mixed-race population is a heterogenous, wildly diverse group – encompassing hundreds of different ethnic make-ups, backgrounds and experiences. It is so much more than just black and white.
This series aims to go beyond stereotypes and stigma to explore the joys, conflicts and contradictions that come with straddling two or more cultural influences.
As the UK’s fastest growing ethnic group, the growth of the mixed population is unlikely to slow down – and we want to hear from the people who live it.
Helena Alyssa is a lifestyle blogger with a more unconventional heritage mix – Caribbean and eastern European.
A number of eastern European countries have the reputation of being hostile to people of other races – particularly black people. Helena says that while this is something she has felt at times, for her, that doesn’t truly represent what Slovenia has to offer as a whole.
Helena and her family have a well-tested response to any stares that linger just a fraction too long – they make the perpetrators feel foolish. It helps that she’s fluent in Slovenian – which most people would never expect.
‘I used to care and get a bit shy and annoyed by it, but as I got older I find that it doesn’t bother me at all. I love to make people feel stupid for staring or making unnecessary comments,’ says Helena.
‘My dad used to always play up to it and just act loud or silly to draw more attention, and it would just embarrass them.
‘Because Slovenia and the Caribbean are so far apart, one wouldn’t really know anything about the other,’ says Helena.
‘It was so rare in the 90s to find someone in Slovenia who had travelled to the Caribbean, let alone Trinidad. My grandma used to come with us on all these trips so she got to experience it all and had such a great attitude about it, she absolutely loved all the mixing cultures and learning about it.
‘I would say Europeans and Slovenians are quite serious, maybe even a bit closed-minded, whilst in Trinidad it’s a completely different vibe. People are more free and open-minded, but they also know a bit more about different cultures and they have probably experienced meeting more people who are mixed.
‘I love what comes with both cultures, being able to love soca music and then get excited about eating Slovenian food. I like having that unique look too and nobody being able to guess what my background is.’
It is this hybridity of both that Helena loves about her identity. She doesn’t understand why so many people seem determined to make her choose a side – when she is more than happy existing between two cultures simultaneously.
‘Having a European look and then this crazy curly hair and brown skin, people always want you to be one or the other, especially whilst growing up.
‘I’ve been lucky to be able to experience both cultures from a young age so I was always quite confident in where I came from. I think a lot of young people don’t get to have that so they always feel more connected to one side more than the other.
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Mixed Up is our weekly series that gets to the heart of what it means to be mixed-race in the UK today.
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