This story is really interesting and my friend shares it with me, I mean it his story
Now I’d start off with “England is such a country,” probably just to catch a few eyes on this platform, but I’d rather give my opinions with clarity and genuine nuance like I’ve always done and always will.
Being part of the Nigerian diaspora in England has always made me have some kind of animosity towards my identity. Yeh, I’ve had my fair share of “racism,” systematically speaking, I guess. Probably had a bit of prejudice thrown in my face without consciously realising it. And the total racial misalignment you’d feel if you ever find yourself being the only person of colour within a community/group or any other working environment is pretty overwhelming (talking from experience, by the way). I’ve never particularly liked England or been pretty happy to call myself “British.” There are many reasons for that, of course.
Right now, I like to think that I’ve come to terms with my ethnicity more than I ever have. 99% Nigerian, yes, but I can’t ever negate what’s been so heavily ingrained into me since I was born. London’s rowdy eastern suburbs, where I was raised. The experiences I embraced and the people I grew up with. The cultural influence that was my greatest motivation and means to endeavour, even though it was pretty negative, to say the least.
At the same time, I feel like my roots here in Nigeria are much more embraced. In Nigeria, many people have the ability to be free in the sense that conceptual liberalist censorship isn’t prevalent, and although there is stigma here in Nigeria against homosexual waywardness and certain accepted Western cultural traditions, Nigeria is much more neutral and tolerable with things generally.
While I hesitate calling myself English, I’ve always said I’d rather identify with the minority over there—Black Britons. Those guys who rebranded England’s cultural standard, along with millions of other foreign immigrants. Don’t get me started with stereotypes, but to say the least, I’m glad to have been born and raised in a great country. Although its history cast a dark shadow on Africans and blacks alike, nowadays, though racial stigma prevails in some instances and places, generally England has become more accepting and welcoming to all ethnic cultures, whether it’s Hispanic, Asian, Africans, and much more.
