Dunnville woman speaks out about what it was like growing up a mixed child in a predominantly white community

Shae-Lyn Pinnance was born and raised in Dunnville.

Her father is black, her mother is white -and she grew up in a community and went to school that predominantly white.

Recently, Shae-Lyn decided to speak up in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement and share her story.

She talked about what it was like growing up in rural Ontario and how she often felt she  needed to be more “white” to fit in, hiding aspects of herself to accomplish this.

People would often point out her differences, often in a way not intended to be hurtful, but the point was still made.

She also said there was a handful of other black students in her high school and they’d often be grouped together by other students.

She said people would say things like they looked related or that they would make a cute couple simply because their skin was the same colour.

She also talked about white privilege and the fact that a lot of the comments about race that she has faced often came from her friends without any intentions of being cruel or mean.

We also spoke about the Black Lives Matter movement, including the recent March in Simcoe, and the counter-argument people would often put saying that “All Lives Matter.”

She also addressed students in our area, who may be following in her footsteps by being a person of colour in a school that is mainly white, and offered this advice.

You can hear Shae-Lyn’s full interview here where we take a longer look at the issues mentioned above.

Her original post can be found below: