Key Takeaways
- Anok Yai spoke with Vanity Fair about balancing her African roots with her American upbringing as the U.S. nears its 250th anniversary.
- She recalled facing racism and insecurity about her skin tone before learning to embrace her identity.
- The model also addressed stereotypes she encountered in fashion, including assumptions about her accent and background.
America wouldn’t be what it is today without the many generations of immigrants who helped shape it. On Thursday (July 2), ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary, Anok Yai spoke with Vanity Fair about her experience as an African growing up in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
The supermodel, who moved from Egypt to New Hampshire when she was just 4, is the daughter of South Sudanese refugees who found safe haven in the States. Like many immigrants, she identifies first with where she comes from. “I always would say I’m African first,” Yai told the publication. “I grew up here, so I’m American too.”
Anok Yai opens up about learning to love the skin she was previously told “wasn’t beautiful”
Yai shared that, growing up, she felt “really insecure” about her skin color, especially because of the racism she faced. “I wouldn’t say I was bullied,” she said, “’cause I fought back. But I grew up being told that my skin wasn’t beautiful.” After dealing with that for so long, the REVOLT Power List alum admitted, “You start to believe it.”
Since then, she’s grown to embrace both where she comes from and the country she now calls home. As for the Vanity Fair cover, in which Yai posed with an American flag draped tightly around her body, she explained that it’s “just a representation of the fact that America is a melting pot.” The runway star added, “It’s a land of immigrants, and we’re all American.”
Anok Yai reflects on the assumptions she faced as a South Sudanese model
Elsewhere in their conversation, Yai spoke about the stereotypes she dealt with during her early years in the fashion industry. Stylists, designers, and glam teams would speak to her as if she might struggle to understand them, only to be surprised when she responded. “I’m obviously South Sudanese. They assumed that I would have a really strong African accent,” the Model of the Year winner recalled.
“But then, when I would talk. I sounded so New Hampshire, and they’re like, ‘Wait, what’s going on?’” she continued. “They’re like, ‘Oh, you speak really good English!’ And I’m like, ‘I’m from New Hampshire, babe!’”
Yai’s rise to superstardom echoes — especially being iconic in its own right — that of many immigrant women who moved to the United States and reshaped culture. Whether it be Rihanna becoming one of the greatest pop stars and youngest self-made billionaires of our time or Iman moving from Somalia and taking the modeling industry by storm, they belong as much to America’s story as they do to the places that made them.