Mixed-race student wins hearts with anti-racism message

Growing up mixed-race in Fiji, Inaya Goundar spent years deciding each morning which version of herself to show the world.

The 20-year-old University of the South Pacific student, whose father is Indo-Fijian and mother is iTaukei, placed third at last Friday's National Youth Oratory Competition.

This was part of Fiji's commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Ms Inaya told the audience she was called a "half-breed" as a child, and that filling out forms felt impossible because there was never a box for both her identities.

"Imagine an eight-year-old girl looking at the mirror every morning, deciding which version of herself she should use today," she said.

Participants of the National Youth Oratory Competition during the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last Friday.

Photo: Supplied

She said racism did not always come through violence or laws, but through quiet words and assumptions that taught people they were too complicated to belong.

Ms Inaya said she stopped hiding. She now speaks Hindi with her iTaukei friends and Fijian with her Indo-Fijian friends, and tells younger mixed children they belong everywhere.

"I am not a contradiction. I am not half of anything. I am a bridge," she said. "And if Fiji is brave enough, we can become a nation of bridges too."

Her grandfather, Akuila Yabaki, was a well-known advocate for racial harmony who faced backlash from his own community for defending Indo-Fijians during the country's coup years.