Teen Scene columnist Jade Roberts
Activist and British model, Adwoa Aboah who was born to her Ghanaian father and English mother, spoke to channel 4 news about her experience in the industry of fashion while being young and biracial.
She goes on to explain how hard it was trying to fit in with many stereotypes and expectations of girls with colour while being in a predominantly white boarding school. ‘I felt a lot of pressure within the school system, like from my peers and everything’. ‘It was just pressure with me trying to fit in constantly’.
The 28 year old discussed that being black and posh from London did raise some eyebrows when living and going to boarding school in the middle of the countryside at 13.
She explained that there were uncomfortable conversations and underline jokes that were being asked and said. ‘there were lots of things about hair texture and why we spoke the way we did, because we were black and posh’ Adwoa said.
British model Adwoa Aboah. Photo courtesy The Jewellery Editor
She was then asked if she thought what was being said to her in school by her friends was racism. She responded, ‘if it was to be said to me now I’d call it racism, if back then maybe it was just a misunderstanding’. ‘Being mixed race, it was confusing’. She continued.
The supermodel continued that she did not think she was different and was normal before going to boarding school. She expressed that looking back now at when she was in school she was highly uncomfortable about where she was from and has only started thinking about that side of things recently. ‘I just wasn’t black enough and I just wasn’t white enough’ Adwoa said
She explained that when she moved back to London and started developing friendship groups with people of different colours and different backgrounds was only when she started to feel more and more comfortable about herself.
Personal comment: It is a shame that in this day and age we still have to deal with racism, especially in big industries that are very diverse in race and culture now. It is a lot more different today with new attitudes around the world compared to how it was before, for example, her experiences when attending boarding school.
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