One was born in Belfast the other in South Africa but face different questions about their heritage
Temiloluwa Temidayo Adegoye is Belfast born and bred but while the teenager calls the city home she says it doesn’t always feel that way.
Temi, who is 16, shared her thoughts after speaking last week at an event in Parliament Buildings with community leaders and diplomats.Temi: My name is Temiloluwa Temidayo Adegoye and I am from Belfast. They see my dark skin and can’t fathom that I claim Belfast. However, when I do tell them my parents are Nigerian why do they react as if they beat the quizmaster and my first answer was a trick question. Like Belfast could never be an adequate answer and they always have to dig deeper for the answer they want, not what I give them.
I hope one day people from Northern Ireland can recognise not everyone who claims this country as home will look the same. Some may be Asian but have lived here since they were a baby and some may be Nigerian but we’re born here and lived here all their life. Kate: When I moved here as a child, people would ask where I was from. They never believed me when I said Africa, because I looked like them.
As the chair of the Assembly’s All-Party Group on Minority Ethnic Communities, I am concerned about the rise in racist attacks in South Belfast and while it’s important to challenge this, that’s not enough.
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