Maltese citizens living in racially and ethnically diverse families remain largely invisible in public debates but face unique challenges associated with ‘racism by proxy’, according to a new study by the People for Change Foundation.
These individuals and families, who have either grown up in mixed families, entered into mixed relationships and marriages, or adopted children from other countries, would like to see a country that does not see colour as a defining feature of foreignness, researchers said.
Yet strangers, neighbours or even their relatives probe their personal choices with curious and sometimes insensitive questions.
“Ethnic Minorities beyond Migration: The Case of Malta”, a study funded by the European Network against Racism, aimed to shed light on the challenges encountered by non-migrant ethnic minorities and those around them.
The study reveals the diversity of mixed family experiences, but also a number of patterns in both experiences and coping mechanisms.
According to the study, adoptive and biological parents whose children are visibly racially ‘different’ struggle with a lack of public role models for their children, who while being Maltese, are often made aware of this cosmetic difference, whether at school or through public discourse.
These parents, as well as their children, particularly when they grow into their teens and adulthood, often need to work hard to convince others of their local identity, while at the same time often maintaining a strongly cosmopolitan outlook which accepts and celebrates diversity.
Parents of adopted or biracial children, as well as partners and spouses of persons of a different ethnicity all experienced a high level of curiosity around their choices and often played the role of mediators in explaining and sometimes justifying them, while having to take the time to constantly explain to others their relationships, families and loved ones.
Researchers said most participants maintained a positive outlook, calling excessive curiosity and even some forms of ambivalence and antagonism ignorance rather than hostility.
Most felt the diversity in their families had enriched their lives and the lives of those around them – family, friends and even curious strangers.