Anti-racism activist Zulaikha Patel made headlines a few years ago by starting her campaign "Stop Racism" at Pretoria High School for Girls because of the rules that required black girls to straighten their naturally curly hair.
Now aged 22, Patel has revealed the agonising experience of being rejected by both her Indian and black families because of her biracial heritage.
In a recent podcast with SMWX on her book "Brave Like Me", Patel revealed that she was rejected by her black family on her mother's side because of her Indian heritage, and by her Indian family because of her black heritage.
"It was like I didn't belong anywhere," Patel said, describing the emotional toll of not being accepted by either side of her family.
Patel mentioned that she never got to live the dream where both her families would be united and become one.
"My first experience of racism, I was overtly hated and despised by my Indian family. I never got to meet everyone because they are in India, but the few individuals that came to South Africa, the experience was horrid, it was terrible, it was really bad," Patel said.
"I remember as a child that I had to make peace with the fact that it is okay for me to be only loved by my dad and my paternal grandmother."
Patel also revealed that as much as her Indian grandma loved her, they struggled to connect due to a linguistic barrier. When she called her grandmother, there had to be someone to translate for her grandma to understand because she understood no English; sometimes it was even difficult to contact her because they were using a broken phone in India.
She continued to share that on the death of her father, she faced a harrowing and hurtful experience from her Indian side, where she was denied access to her father's funeral, shutting her and her black family out.
In the interview, Patel mentioned experiences from her mother's side in the village in Ndebele where her mother is from. A lot of people in the village would despise her because how curly and long her hair was.
Speaking about her parents' marriage, Patel said that her parents' relationship was always questioned, most especially from her mother's side. In the village she is from, an interracial marriage was an odd thing, she said.
"My parents' relationship and marriage were misunderstood for many years. My mother was asked Why did you marry an Indian man?"
Patel's experiences, including her high school life, were hard for her to navigate between two worlds of being a black and an Indian.
She said she was often misunderstood and bullied because of being biracial.
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