George Floyd's death has stirred an extraordinary debate about systematic racism and discrimination not only in the United States but globally. With celebrated stars, authors, athletes, politicians, and people from every walk of life coming out to register their protest against the extrajudicial murder of Floyd, it seems the world is finally opening up to address racism and discrimination on the basis one's appearance.

Amidst these extraordinary circumstances, Shaniera Akram, wife of former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram, decided to take the opportunity to address the discrimination she faced when she married the cricket star. Shaniera took to Instagram to speak about the prejudice that exists in Pakistani society against inter-racial marriages.

She shared an endearing image of her hands entwined with Wasims while penning down some of the intolerable comments she gets to hear from both sides: “‘He only married her because she’s white. She must be easy! Does his skin smell different? Why couldn’t he marry a Brown girl? It’s not natural for two skin colors to mix. Interracial relationships never work."

 

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?“He only married her because she’s white. She must be easy! Does his skin smell different? Why couldn’t he marry a Brown girl? It’s not natural for two skin colours to mix. Interracial relationships never work. What spell did she put on him? He will never take you seriously because your white. Your both so different. You will never be accepted as a real couple. His sons can’t have a Gori stepmother. If you have children they will grow up confused and treated differently”. We have had it on both sides, it’s ugly and unwarranted! Skin colour only troubles the people in this world who sees it. Like millions of others, We are living proof that colour means absolutely nothing, LOVE does. #KeepFighting #RacismIsRasicmInAnyCapacity #TheWorldIsColourful #RacismHasNoPlaceInThisWorld #RacismIsNotABeliefItsADisease

A post shared by Shaniera Akram (@iamshaniera) on Jun 10, 2020 at 12:51am PDT

"What spell did she put on him? He will never take you seriously because you're white. Your both so different. You will never be accepted as a real couple," she continued the post and added, "His sons can’t have a Gori stepmother. If you have children they will grow up confused and treated differently”. We have had it on both sides, it’s ugly and unwarranted! Skin color only troubles the people in this world who sees it. Like millions of others, We are living proof that color means absolutely nothing, LOVE."

Akram has been vocal against discrimination on the basis of skin color on other platforms too. She used the platform of Educate A Girl, a non-governmental organization, to raise awareness against racism.

Australian national married Wasim Akram in 2013 and the couple is residing in Pakistan ever since.