hello, my name is jason-lee. i was born in england, but moved to jamaica in 1992, i was there for four years until we had a family disagreement and my family migrated back to the uk.

ever since i have been back in the uk, things havent been the same. people in the UK wont accept me for who i am.

black people in the uk believe you have to be black to be a jamaican. it makes me laugh as from my experience of living there, there are many chinese and indian people as well as black people.

i am extremely mixed. my mother is jamaican, her mother is chinese and her father half indian and black (both were citizens of jamaica). my father is half white british and half pakistani. people say to me "what a wierd combination?"

the reason why i am writing this message is because i want to know if there are any other 'coolie' people who suffer the same problem from ignorant, narrow minded people saying that they cannot be jamaican unless they are black in complexion.

i recently went into a local supermarket with my mother. as i approached the shelf to pick up an ackee tin, a black woman approched me. she said to me "what are you going to do with that?" i was taken back from the way this woman was so uneducated about the country that she was claiming to come from. i just laughed in her face and said i was going to curry my ackee.

i am not racist as i am extremely mixed like many other jamaicans.
i have love for all races and believe we should all live as one, however how can i do so if my own people dont accept me?? (meaning jamaicans)

here in england, the indians dont accept me because they think im too black in my ways, the blacks dont accept me because they think im trying too hard to be friendly with them (like mi ah beg fren) and the whites think i am talking rubbish and that i am not as mixed as i say i am.

most of my friends are mixed. they are the only ones who understand me and my culture.

even when i went to a gospal church (as i am a christian) i was insulted by someone in sunday school. she said i aint black and i dont belong there. this church is for black people only. what is this world comming to??
i thought all that was long dead and dusted.

anyway, it would be nice to hear other peoples thoughts and opinions. especially those who can relate to this situation.

First of all, welcome Jason!!! I, for one, can relate to your problem very well. My mother is from Ghana, W. Africa and my father was German. I grew up in Germany and moved to the States on my 21st birthday.

In Germany I was an outsider, because I was always the only "Black" around. Even though for a long time I knew nothing of my black culture, as I was raised by a white foster mother. People thought it was very funny that I, as a black person, not only speak German, but then spoke with a Bavarian accent.

When I came to the States (at this point very concious of my heritage) white and some black people as well told me, that I was "not really black", because I am German and didn't grow up in the States (???). I can pass for hispanic, with my hair and complexion, so when I am (for example) in Florida it is also strange, because Latin people think I am ashamed of my "spanish" heritage and that I am trying to be something I am not....

This is what I can tell you: DO YOU. Whatever or whoever you feel you are - BE THAT. For one, there will always be someone trying to hate or discourage or criticize. And you will NEVER be able to please everybody, so it's most important you please you. In situations as the one at the supermarket - I think you handled that very well. That's all you can do - laugh about peoples ignorance and go about your business.

You will find that on this site there are many cool mixed people, many cool non-mixed people, but here on ETJ we're ONE people. Stick around, we talk about everything here and everybody's got an opinion . And you will never feel like an outsider - because we're all insiders!!!

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Don't fight it!

You have a real dilemma. I have heard about the prejudice in Ja regarding coolies. I somehow find that expression "coolie" offensive but I guess it's used widely. I am white and they look at me real funny in Ja because I am a single woman with a black man. I just smile and am very gracious to all Jamaicans. Now I have lots of friends over there, so I think you can help your situation by drowning them with smiles and kindness. Then they will get to know you as a person and hopefully it will help. If not go on to another person for friendship. Unfortunately in this world there is prejudice all over. Remind them of the national saying about one people among many. Good luck to you and keep in touch with us on the board. I'd like to know how it fares out. Walk good.

jason, how unfortunate it is that you are ostrasized by your own people. tell me, is it only like this in the UK or did you experience it while living in Jamaica too? i can also relate to your situation of being multiracial. my mother is filipino and my father is cherokee indian and white. i can remember a few instances in my childhood when an adult filipino would say to me that i'm not really a filipino because i couldn't speak tagalog or i wasn't born in PI. but it was very common for other filipino children to be half just like i was. most of our mothers married a military man and moved to the states. so among my peers it didn't matter how much filipino blood was in us...we all liked eating warm pan de sal and rice cake. whether we were filipino & white, filipino & black, or even filipino & mexican we all had mothers who would curse us out in tagalog and pinch our shoulder when we were bad.

now i live in an area where filipinos are scarce. i attend what you'd call a gospel church and most of my good friends are black. i sure hope that it was only one person who insulted you at church because it is not Godly for a church to be that exclusive.

all i need to tell ya is to "brush those haters off". cat gave you some great advice. ETJ is a great place and you'll soon see for yourself that we got a lotta love for our peeps here.

Hi Jason, I am from the UK too and I just want to say if you were up my sides (although I don't know which part you are) I would accept you no matter what. I have lots of friends and some were of indian/chinese decent too. I am just as mixed in the blood line as the next person but you wouldn't see it that much. Anyway it just goes to show how little they actually know about Jamaica. Don't worry dude, you know who you are and I know a true Jamaican would accept you. I am very appalled that something happened to you in church of all places. The one place you are supposed to feel safe, secure and welcome. Ignore these people, they are not worth a second thought.

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