The creativity of author, designer, broadcaster Ben Arogundade
Celebrity Ancestry: What Is Rihanna’s Heritage? Is She Black, White, Mixed, Biracial, British, Other? 50,000 Google Her Ethnicity, Nationality, Parents Race & Family Background
RIHANNA & RACE: Thousands of her fans are unsure about her ethnicity, nationality and her parents background. But how many of them know that the answers have much to do with the actions of 17th century English military leader Oliver Cromwell and his treatment of the Irish? By Ben Arogundade. Sept. 20, 2022.
MODERN IDENTITY: Many of Rihanna's online fanbase are unsure of her racial origins, ethnicity and her parents ethnic background. Google records over 50,000 annual queries which ask if she is black, white, mixed, Hispanic or British.
WHAT RACE AND ETHNICITY IS Rihanna? What is her background and nationality? Is she black, mixed race, African American, Jamaican? The answers may seem obvious to some, but in fact many fans, not knowing what the music diva's heritage or genealogy is, or where her parents are from, turn to the Internet for answers. Google's search results reveal much about what people do or don't know about the celebrated recording artist. For example, approximately 500 people around the world Google the question, “Is Rihanna white?” every month. A further 1,000 people ask, “Is Rihanna black?”, while 500 fans per month ask, “Is Rihanna British?”
RIHANNA'S ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY, PARENTS
In fact, the music star, who has notched over 100m record sales, is West Indian. she was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados on February 20, 1988. Of her parents, her mother, Monica Braithwaite, a retired accountant, is a mix of African and Guyanese. (Guyana is located on the northern coast of South America). Her father, Ronald Fenty, was a warehouse supervisor. He is of Barbadian and Irish ancestry. Rihanna's natural green eyes are the result of European ancestors on both sides of her family, who possessed the gene for that eye colour. Racial eclecticism is part of her upbringing. “In my own household, my father is half black, half white,” the singer and designer told The New York Times. “My mom is black from South America. I was seeing diversity. That’s all I knew.”
BLACK IRISH ANCESTRY
The Irish and the Africans have a long history in Barbados. They toiled side-by-side during the era of Anglo-American slavery. The first African captives arrived on the island in 1627, and the Irish came in numbers from 1648, after English statesman and military leader Oliver Cromwell conquered Ireland and deported 50,000 Irish soldiers, political prisoners, dissidents and others, selling them on to British plantation owners as slaves and indentured servants. Many of them coupled with Africans, which is why so many biracial Barbadians today have Irish surnames.
HERITAGE ENVY
Throughout the history of the island there have been tensions between blacks with differing skin tones. During Rihanna’s childhood she experienced the same intolerance of her light skin, loose-textured hair and mixed race heritage as many African American stars such as Jennifer Beals and Vanessa Williams before her. In school she was called “white” by some of her classmates. “They would look at me, and they would curse me out,” she told Allure magazine. “I didn’t understand.”
The music star had to learn fast about how to deal with the racial intolerances of cruel classmates. One thing that helped her cope were the experiences of famous mixed race recording artists. “I remember looking up to Mariah Carey,” she recalled. “I identified with her in so many ways. She was biracial. I remember hearing her story and feeling really connected to it.”
ETHNICITY? MIXED RACE
After being teased at high school by black pupils, it is no surprise that the adult Rihanna now chooses to self-identify as mixed race, or bi-racial, rather than black, thereby psychologically distancing herself from the aesthetic of her childhood tormentors.
Nevertheless, her self-determining choice has upset some traditionalists within the black community, particularly in America, where any person with any proportion of African ancestry is regarded as black. But Rihanna is part of a new global generation who are unafraid to go against such conventions in declaring their own kind of modern-day racial independence.
ABOUT ME
Hi there. I am a London-based author, journalist and broadcaster Discover more about me and my work at Ben Arogundade bio.
THE FAMILY BLEND: 1,000 fans per month ask Google, “What race is Rihanna?” The recording artist's parents are of mixed ethnicity and nationality. Her father, Ronald Fenty, is of Barbadian and Irish heritage, while her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is Afro-Guyanese.
