UK pop star, Keisha Buchanan, has spoken out about the “trauma” that she experienced as the only Black member of the chart-topping band Sugababes.
The singer, who was a member of the platinum-selling girl group for well over a decade, said that she was often portrayed as a “bully” and who the others were scared of.
The 35-year-old said: “I have never bullied anyone in my life but after a while I felt like no one would believe me”.
She added: that the “scrutiny and judgement” had left her in therapy.
Keisha opened up about her experiences in a 14-minute YouTube video.
"I used to think racism was when someone directly looked at you and called you a racist word. I didn't realise that there are so many different ways that a person or people can be racist or prejudice," she said.
But after she found fame as a teenager, she started to notice that newspaper articles would paint her as "aggressive", "angry" and a "bully".
"My reality is constantly feeling like I have to work 10 times harder and longer to make my case in the group, because my talent alone isn't enough."
Both stars said they hoped that discussing their stories would raise awareness of discrimination, in response to the recent Black Lives Matter protests and George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.
"I'm not doing this video for sympathy," Ms Buchanan said. "I'm not a victim whatsoever, but I have been hurt and I would like there to be a change in how we view others."
