The Invisible BAME

I wasn't alway BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic). It happened quite suddently after I moved to England for the first time. Although I was the BAMEST, what I didn't know at the time was that I was the invisible BAME.
Subtle racism from my peers was the first sign that my BAMENESS had been accepted. It was the older generations (who had been taught to see Northern Irish as terrorists) that had the most problem with my BAMENESS. This became apparent when talking to prospective employers who seemed excited at my candidacy until they found out where I was from. My origin didn't bother foreigners, just the over-30 English. Too them I looked like the perfect in-group candidate, but did not sound like it.
It didn't matter to me though. I was BAME, and had my BAME card... or so I thought.

After finishing university I found many opportunites that would have suited me as a member of the BAME society. But I was so BAME that even the BAME society excluded me. The opportunities were not for me. It did not matter where you were from or how BAME you were, only the shape of your genitalia. I also found opportunites for men, and once again it did not judge based on where you were from, but this time based on the melanin levels your body produced. I did not produce enough melanin or have the right genatalia to pursue a career in science.
I checked everywhere but my BAMENESS had become an invisible disability to the English. The younger generation were not able to understand the sentiments of their elders towards me. They did not experience it. They could not see it. I was trapped between the accepted in-group and the depsied out-group. I could safely smoke drugs and commit crime in front of the police, but if they heard me talk they would check my ID to make sure I was in the country legally.
Loved in a subtle racist manner, but excluded from society.
I was the invisible BAME.

@RiskDebonair
Irish Writer, Poet, & Lover