Shekhinah on being raised by a white family and her experience with racism

Shekhinah on the love she has for her family and how experiencing racism has made her views on life a bit tricky.

By  | Jun 22, 2020, 01:45 PM  | Shekhinah  | Top of The

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Shekhinah

Having grown up in a household that is different from your average black child, we can only imagine the many challenges Shekhinah had to face in school and in the real world as an adult.

During the interview, Shekhinah opened up about being abandoned at birth, being raised by a white family and how she never felt as though she was an outcast during her child hood. The only time she did experience a bit of frustration was during her early years in high school and during her adult life after varsity.

"I had so much love at home, the love that I have experienced is unreal, it's organic, it's natural. It's the reason why I love everybody. When leaving home, I was always so charged up with that love and respect that whenever I was disrespected for not speaking isiZulu or not having a good weave or not knowing what to do with my hair because my parents are white and not doing phondo's on my hair before I sleep. That used to bother me and I got upset but then I quickly moved on and by the time I was in grade 11 I had done Idols and then everybody wanted to be my friend."

Sheeks
Instagram/@shekhinad

The only time the singer has experienced racism was only now as an adult. 

"The only time I started to experience racism was last year when I began paying my own bills and getting my own apartment, that's when I was exposed to a whole lot of things that I wish I wasn't exposed to. When I came to Joburg I was always around black people who were very Black Conscious and I wasn't. I just didn't understand why you'd hate white people because I love my white family, but then I would be around white people that were like 'You're very cool because you're not like that.' So I was exposed to those two worlds and I just didn't understand it but my eyes were opened, and I got some education and I've formulated my own opinion about it."

Shekhinah shared that it's become very tricky for her especially considering that she was raised by a white family but all these experiences have taught her how she would like to raise her kids one day and that before race, humanity comes first.

Main Image Credit: Instagram/@ShekhinahD

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