Wishaw twins open up on racism and urge people to support Black Lives Matter protest

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, Social Justice, United Kingdom on 2022-02-21 02:35Z by Steven

Wishaw twins open up on racism and urge people to support Black Lives Matter protest

Daily Record
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
2020-06-10

Michael Pringle, Reporter

Wishaw twins Aleisha and Lauryn Omeike (Image: Stuart Vance/Wishaw Press)

Aleisha and Lauryn Omeike have spoken out about the racism they endured as children and called for better education on the matter in Scottish schools, as the BLM movement gathers momentum with protests in cities across the world.

Craigneuk twins who grew up wishing they were white are urging more people to support the Black Lives Matter movement and help change racist attitudes.

Aleisha and Lauryn Omeike have spoken out about the racism they endured as children and called for better education on the matter in Scottish schools, as the BLM movement gathers momentum with protests in cities across the world.

The mixed-race 19-year-olds’ dad Steve is Nigerian and their mum Pamela is Scottish.

They have revealed they wanted to be white so they didn’t have to be different while growing up in Wishaw.

“I blew out my seventh birthday candles and wished to be white so I wouldn’t have to face constant abuse and being attacked because of the colour of my skin,” Lauryn said.

“It was just so I wouldn’t be different anymore…

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What it’s like growing up mixed race in Scotland

Posted in Articles, Autobiography, Media Archive, United Kingdom, Videos on 2022-01-20 20:15Z by Steven

What it’s like growing up mixed race in Scotland

The Social
BBC
2020-07-15

Aleisha Omeike, The Social contributor

Aleisha details her experience of growing up as a mixed-race person in Glasgow.

I grew up in an overwhelmingly white neighbourhood. I hated being different. Throughout my childhood, I would navigate and shape my racial identity based solely on my white Scottish heritage, often dismissing or denying my Black African roots.

I remember the first time I experienced racial abuse. I was around 5 years of age and I was at school. I had come out into the playground after lunch. Some girls in the year below me were pointing directly at me, shouting and dancing, calling me “blackie”. Turns out, that was just the start.

Since then, I have been labelled almost every racial slur in the book. The most common of these slurs is “half caste”. People do not realise how offensive “half caste” is. Calling someone half of anything is dehumanising and derogatory.

Throughout my childhood, I have been asked where I am from and people would not accept my answer. I grew up in a small town in North Lanarkshire. People found that fact hard to believe because of my skin colour…

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