A question with impact
I'm 22 and in the middle of a busy lane in the main market of Hobart. My partner is holding my bag as I bend down to fix my shoe. I hear an older stranger's voice directed down towards me, 'Hi! Where are you from?' I briefly look up and deflect, 'Oh, The Mainland.' They think they're being more clear, 'No, where are you really from?' I bark at them, 'l'm from Victoria!' They hurry away, startled.
My partner saw my tired expression once again, they knew I despised this question. But feeling like an imposter in my home country because of another ignorant Boomer's curiosity as to why I'm not white, is something that I've just learnt to deal with.
I've been working through so much of the internalised racism built into me growing up in a country town in Victoria and I've learnt that this question had more of an impact on me than I realised. "Where are you from?" greatly contributed to me not wanting to identify with my Papua New Guinean heritage growing up.
But now at thirty, that side of me is the proudest part of my identity. Having compassion and the understanding that some people will never be fully capable of knowing the weight and hurt this question carries, has allowed me to heal and to move through this world with more peace for others and myself.
Now I answer that question with "I was born in Victoria and my dad is Papua New Guinean."
It took me a while, but I'm here now and that's what matters.