In our world where everything is labelled and neatly stowed in boxes, I want to talk about being Biracial. Belonging to one of races, meant being on a specific team, which brings some type of reassurance regardless of whether that is oppression or privilege. Born from a white mother and a Black father, I have always felt as a biracial African woman that I didn’t belong to either team.

Since my young age, I’ve been told that my facial features were more like my father but my skin colour was close to my mother’s. I remembered that people — whether family members or friends — when describing my skin colour would refer to the colour of wheat. I often heard comments such as, “You are not white but you are not Black either.” This state of being in between confused me in the process of my identity-building. If I’m neither white nor Black, then what am I? The fact that I was raised in the Tunisian society (in the capital Tunis), a relatively conservative one, where the whiteness of skin is a major beauty standard confused me even more. During my teenage years, like most people, I craved belonging, acceptance, and recognition.

Although during recent years, colorism and racism have been put on the table and are now more openly discussed, mixed race people are still finding footing in certain conversations and still navigating our identity and status within or between races.

When Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle sat down for her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, she talked about experiencing racism and how she navigated the British royal family. However, she didn’t tackle the sensitive topic of identity. It disappointed my expectations;I was waiting for Markle to dive deep into complex issues that greatly affect biracial women like her and like me. It might be due to the fact that Markle grew up in the US where issues like race are discussed openly and she may not have faced the same identity problem. Women like me — who live in conservative societies where discussions of race and identity are considered taboos or not important enough to be talked about — feel somehow lost. This confusion about identity might be the reason why some biracial women dye their hair blond or wear blue or green contact lenses to appear closer to white. Some even use foundation to lighten their skin in an attempt to fit into society and belong to the group of the “privileged” ones. In Tunisia and North Africa, biracial people are a “majority”, whereas both white and Back people are minorities. However, this “majority” is “silent or silenced”, (as Oprah asked Markle in her interview), because of the world order that hasn’t changed, and where white supremacy is still dominant.

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Race can determine some of the societal privileges someone can have but even within the marginalized categories, there are still individuals who are more privileged than others.

Markle is an activist, humanitarian aid worker and former actress with wealth. Markle is a privileged biracial woman, despite the discrimination she faces because of the intersectionality between her race and gender. Many other biracial people are undergoing the same treatment as Meghan but struggle even more because they aren’t in a position of power and wealth to change things. Many can’t afford therapy for their mental health with the daily injustice they face because they aren’t well-paid or get paid less than their white counterparts. During the interview, Markle said she felt trapped in a system promoting white supremacy and thus oppressing her. Despite that, she had the means to get out of it and now lives in a wealthy neighborhood in Montecito, Santa Barbara with her husband Prince Harry and baby. This is a far cry from stories belonging to other biracial people who are trapped in their own toxic worlds and don’t have the resources or status to escape.

Markle was given a platform to express herself, her worries and denounce the injustice she suffered. This is a rare opportunity that ordinary biracial and Black people aren’t normally afforded; their struggles, fears and identity are denied by society and the media. Although Markle’s interview was a positive step towards acknowledging the presence of biracial people and making them more visible in the world — it wasn’t enough. The majority of the biracial community, who are not wealthy or privileged, need to be represented by regular individuals among them. They need to be able to openly speak about the daily struggles and challenges that their silenced community faces. As taboo as the identity topic is in many societies including the ones across Africa that are considered progressist, we must keep trying to push the conversation openly among biracial people and all races.

As a young biracial woman, I have always felt that this part of my identity has always been left hidden and misunderstood— both by myself and the world around me.This part of my identity shouldn’t be buried; it should be celebrated as a form of diversity in a world that should value and understand our differences.