Vince Macaulay: “If you haven’t got somewhere to stand, how do you build success?”
The basketball coach on defining yourself before others do it for you
Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week I’m speaking to Vince Macaulay, who is of Nigerian and white heritage. Vince is the head coach of the British Basketball League’s London Lions. Having grown up in Nigeria for his formative years, Vince’s identity was formed in a majority-Black environment. That’s an experience that’s always interested me, so I was thrilled to hear his story for this week’s newsletter. Dive in below.
How do you define your ethnicity?
I was born in Liverpool, but grew up in Nigeria from when I was a baby until I was 16. My childhood was African, so I don’t see Black people as a minority.
I identify as a Black person, and if anyone has any more interest in that, I’ll give them the detail of my father being Nigerian.
Was growing up in Africa formative for your identity?
That keyword of identity is huge. I saw myself as part of the country I was living in, speaking the languages and going to the same school as everybody else.
Liverpool has a huge mixed-race population, but I couldn’t understand the disconnect they felt. I had this impression that they were finding something to stick to. I began to understand that the displacement of people isn’t just their bodies, but their minds too. If you haven’t got somewhere to stand, how do you build? If your feet are never on the ground, how do you find that foothold to spring to success?
I love my Nigerian heritage as much as my Liverpool history. The slavery in Liverpool was horrendous, but there are also some positive stories. It’s the same in Africa; some horrendous history, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find the positive. I am a mix of the comedy of Liverpool with the burgeoning dry wit of Nigerians.
Did moving to Liverpool shake those foundations for you?
It was shocking in many ways. I was 6'6” at the time, so people thought I was older than I was. Anyone who wanted to treat me with hostility would do so triplicate. Aggression can be all around you as a young man. I watched how people demarcated themselves by which block they were from, but at the end of the day, we’re all the same.
I didn’t understand why people felt that everything else influenced them rather than them trying to influence everything else; it took me a long time to learn that. My basketball career really started when I met Jimmy Rogers, who grew up as an orphan with one parent thought to be from Jamaica. He led me to understand that you can use sport as a way of understanding what was going on in life at the time.
Has it ever felt like a stereotype to be a Black person in basketball?
I always remember my dad saying to me in the ‘80s, “why do all Black Americans want to be entertainers and sports stars?” I found it challenging because he was a successful Black man, and he was questioning other Black people trying to be successful, just in a different field.
The white side of the world often sees people and decides what roles they might be good for, but in my formative years I had a career as a filmmaker. I could be filming miners up north or the queen, with no difference in the way I prepared. That began to strengthen the idea that I can do anything. That’s helped me when working with people in basketball, allowing people to express things that might otherwise be restricted.
I’m a solutions orientated person, so when I see a problem, I want to fix it. The challenges around how we relate to one another are big. Do we really see ourselves as on the same side of the fence? To be successful, you have to break through certain ceilings, so it’s important to reach out to anybody of colour to offer advice and support.
Do you think the conversation around mixedness needs to change?
Growing up in Nigeria, I knew many people with one Black and one white parent. But as you go around the world, you realise that’s just the beginning.
I also think that we need to understand what happens to us and where it comes from. It can only be about control. As people with mixed backgrounds, we have to be clear that we are who we are, finding that landing strip to allow us to achieve. It’s important that we don’t have that that battle within ourselves, because there are enough people outside trying to use it as a stick against us.
What’s the best thing about being mixed?
It means I’m different, nine times out of ten. We have so many stories to tell, both exotic and traditional. We create interest with our uniqueness. You have every right to extend your flower to its fullest bloom.
Which famous mixed figures do you particularly respect?
As a sports fan, I look at Tiger Woods, even with his difficulties. But making it through difficulties means you’re a particular type of person; you will have to deal with being attacked for your success if you’re not white, but the attack on mixed-race guys is different, it’s more surreptitious.
I also follow Trent Alexander-Arnold, who plays for Liverpool, as well as basketball players Steph Curry and Jeremy Lin, who has been causing a stir in New York. I watch how their stories play out in the media, and their reactions to that.
Can you sum up your personal mixed experience in a word?
Intriguing. It goes both ways; I intrigue others, and I’m intrigued by others. When people see me, they think one thing; when they hear me, they think something else.
Next week, I’ll be talking to the author of What’s Mine And Yours, Naima Coster. Subscribe to get Mixed Messages in your inbox on Monday!
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Mixed Messages is a weekly exploration of the mixed-race experience, from me, Isabella Silvers. My mom is Punjabi Indian (by way of East Africa) and my dad is White British, but finding my place between these two cultures hasn’t always been easy. That’s why I started Mixed Messages, where each week I’ll speak to a prominent mixed voice to delve into what it really feels like to be mixed.