Mixed-Race French Student Struggles with Identity and Acceptance

"[...] It is difficult for me to identify with one part rather than the other. I am always referred back to my Arab origins when I am in France, and to my status as a French tourist when I go to Tunisia. I feel excluded from both communities for several reasons," Latifa tells Ouest France.

"On the French side, there is the fact of not fitting into the Western ideal type. I am exactly the opposite. All of this seems to exclude me from French society and its codes. On the Arab side, for some, I am too white-skinned to be ’allowed’ to have Arab origins. And not speaking Arabic also excludes me from my family. All of this makes my search for identity more difficult," explains the young student.

She confesses that during her youth, she did not pay attention to her origins, nor to those of her classmates in Rennes. In primary school, she claims to have never had to deal with remarks making her feel different from the other students. "However, when I arrived in middle school and high school, I started to suffer from some more or less subtle or direct remarks. For example: ’You are too white-skinned to belong to the Maghreb community’. It was in high school that I realized the harsh reality of things," Latifa recalls.

"But the years go by and the remarks around my mixed heritage start to exhaust me. [...] And if I had to choose between becoming completely white or Arab, I would prefer to stay as I am. Because that’s what I am after all. Much to the dismay of those who fantasize about mixed heritage," summarizes the young student.