I’ve been told that I have the kind of face that could be from anywhere. And it’s meant as a compliment. When travelling in Morocco I could be Moroccan, in Tanzania I could be East African, in the Arab world I could be Arab and in India I could be Indian. It’s a joyful experience to be able to blend in. Although it can lead to some humorous, wry and occasionally awkward situations where I’m spoken to rapidly in a local language that I don’t understand, and then berated for looking completely blank.
The irony is that Britain – where I was born, where I live, contribute, pay taxes, work and raise my family, in the place of my home and where I hold citizenship – is the place I’m most often asked: “Where are you from?”
“London” is my usual answer, and an accurate one. And my interlocutor could leave it at that and move on to the next topic. It’s the follow-up question that’s the problem. “No, where are you really from?” What’s the answer to that one? “Erm, north London?”
These same questions made headline news in the UK this month when a royal aide at Buckingham Palace started posed them relentlessly to one of the guests.
The excruciating conversation – which resonated in the fibres of most likely every person of minority ethnic background in the UK – was directed with seemingly ferocious intent by Lady Susan Hussey to prove that the guest, Ngozi Fulani, was not “really" from Britain.
The questions included “Where are you from?”, “No, where do you come from?”, “No, what part of Africa are you from?”, “No, but what nationality are you?” and “No, but where do your people come from?”. Finally, this led to the remark “Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you’re from,” and the conversation still continued in this vein.
That’s aside from the fact that Lady Hussey felt it was perfectly okay for her to move her guest’s hair – a stranger to her – without asking permission.
The irony of all this is that Ms Fulani was at an event about tackling violence against women and girls. She was there in her capacity as chief executive of Sistah Space, a charity that offers specialist support for women of African and Caribbean heritage affected by abuse. So there was lots to talk about, the least interesting of which was where she is really from.
It’s a joyful experience to be able to blend in
Some people have argued this line of questioning is legitimate and shows an interest. But what the repeated attempts show in the doubling down on the questions – despite resistance from the person being asked (some might say interrogated) – is a total disregard of who the person is, her story, her boundaries of not wanting to pursue a conversation line further and her self-definition on her own terms. Lady Hussey was literally telling her what an acceptable definition would be.
I am someone who is relentlessly curious about people's stories, so in a benevolent reading of the situation – benevolent to the wealthy, privileged royal aide who happens to be a white woman, but malicious in its interpretation of a black woman doing community work – I can understand how this question can be perceived as one of curiosity and innocence. But we must have our eyes open about the power imbalances in asking it, who is the asker and who is the asked, and the context and narrative that other people (always the “asked”) provide to the situation and what the subtext is.
What we also see at play here is the “paradox of ethnicity”. That ethnicity is important to people, but it shouldn't be the only thing that we talk about. But in this conversation the only thing that was of interest was Fulani's ethnicity.
But when ethnicity is a deeper, more nuanced collection of attributes that make up their sense of self and place in the world and how they interact with it, people can be keen to say that it is central to who they are.
Breaking the paradox of ethnicity is about breaking the reduction of people to merely the external superficial markers - primarily how people look, and where their ancestors hail from. Neither of which really focus on who the person is. Actually identity – for all of us, irrespective of ethnicity – is a complex thing of many factors, including nationally, community, religion and even regionality.
Too often, ethnicity can be dealt with as a very reductive reference point, leaving people feeling judged superficially and limited to nothing more than their ethnicity. In fact, if they are reduced to nothing more than their ethnicity, this reinforces the stereotyping, homogenisation and racism they already endure.
While the conversation was excruciating, it was absolutely critical to have in the UK right now as we grapple with who we are. What the incident prompts us to think about is how do we have conversations about ethnicity that are not from the 1920s, when Britain was at the height of its powers and from which emerged the likes of the conversations spotlighted by Lady Hussey. It’s time to relegate “where are you really from” to the consigns of history. Rather, it’s time for new conversations that focus on the stories of who people are, not reducing them to the colour of their skin.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
TALE OF THE TAPE
Manny Pacquiao
Record: 59-6-2 (38 KOs)
Age: 38
Weight: 146lbs
Height: 166cm
Reach: 170cm
Jeff Horn
Record: 16-0-1 (11 KOs)
Age: 29
Weight: 146.2lbs
Height: 175cm
Reach: 173cm
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
HOW TO WATCH
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MORE ON TURKEY'S SYRIA OFFENCE
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'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5
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INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
Federer's 11 Wimbledon finals
2003 Beat Mark Philippoussis
2004 Beat Andy Roddick
2005 Beat Andy Roddick
2006 Beat Rafael Nadal
2007 Beat Rafael Nadal
2008 Lost to Rafael Nadal
2009 Beat Andy Roddick
2012 Beat Andy Murray
2014 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2015 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2017 Beat Marin Cilic
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
