On a recent episode of Cody Rhodes’ What Do You Want to Talk About? podcast, NXT superstar Ricky Saints opened up in a deeply personal conversation about his experiences growing up biracial in New Orleans and the lasting impact it has had on his life.
A Difficult Upbringing
Saints described the constant conflict he faced while attending a predominantly Black school as a fair-skinned person of color. “Even then, I was a lot lighter than I am now. And so I was constantly, always… in fights, always in some type of issue because people just thought I was white,” Saints shared. “It was an issue, because when I was younger, I had a very bad temper… I had to really hone in and be like, okay, is this a worth the situation to fight over? Is my pride hurt, or is it on principle?”.
A Feeling of Not Belonging
Saints explained that these early experiences have created a lifelong feeling of not quite fitting in, which has affected him into adulthood. “It sucks to grow up to feel like you’re not on one side or the other,” he said. “I go through life where I don’t feel like I really fit in anywhere. And so when I don’t fit on the Black side, that sucks, and then when I don’t fit on the white side, that sucks, too. So then you’re kind of like on an island by yourself”.
When Cody Rhodes asked if he still feels that way, Saints admitted that he does. “As an adult, I do feel like I am not very well understood,” he confessed. “I think sometimes people miss… they misinterpret my passion. They misinterpret the way that I say things, or even sometimes I react, and they misinterpret in such a way where it wasn’t even close to what I was intending.”
This feeling has led him to be extremely loyal to the people who he feels truly connect with him. “The people that I do allow… I feel more of a kindred. I am seen, I’m heard, and I’m understood, and those, honestly, are the only three things that I ever really wanted,” Saints concluded.
Click below to listen to the entire interview (highly recommende).
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
