"I made it my mission to make sure people knew my name was important, after all that is my identity."
After Lucie Donlan's comments about Yewande Biala, the 'Love Island' star from Enfield, Co. Meath has responded with what she's calling the "last thing I'm going to say about this situation."
In a lengthy note posted on her Twitter that's so far racked up over 13,000 retweets, Yewande explained why her name is significant and spoke about the difference between African names and European names as well as micro-aggressions that many people with ethnic names face.
"I think of my earlier memories of racialized renaming was when I was exploring different secondary schools. One of the schools I was interested in, btw I didn't end up going, asked me for my full name. After having difficulties pronouncing my name, she went forward and asked if we could just put it down as Elizabeth Biala, as it would be easier for everyone," Biala explained.
"In the moment all I heard was that I didn't matter, and was an inconvenience. From that day I made it my mission to make sure people knew my name was important, after all that is my identity," she continued. "There is a tendency for White European names and whiteness in general to be perceived as normative, whereas racial minorities with names of religious and ethic origins may be seen as an inconvenience."
Biala then addressed Lucie Donlan specifically, saying that she corrected "her multiple times" and didn't mind because "you are going to get it right."
This is the last thing I’m going to say about this situation..... pic.twitter.com/oIwvSaCG04
— Yewande (@yewande_biala) January 23, 2021
"This was after 3 weeks in. She mispronounced my names, I correct her again and her reply was 'yeah whatever you know what I mean' I remember one of the producers putting her arms around me," she added.
"Being black on TV means not rising (sic) your voice, not being too defensive, because you don't want to creative (sic) the narrative of being an angry black woman or a bully. I am not a bully, it's such a huge accusation and one that should be handled very seriously."
Donlan so far has made no response to Biala's comments.