The sisters discussed their experiences with racism.
EastEnders has shown dramatic scenes featuring Gina and Anna Knight as their father, George, realizes the details about his adopted parents.
The show’s extended episode (February 14, 2014) centered solely on the Knight family. It saw George learn that his adopted father, Eddie, actually stood before the justice system in the racist murder of the father he was born to -the man’s name was Henry Kofi Asare.
When George pressed Eddie on the course of the crime, Gina and Anna listened to their conversations. This led them to talk about their childhood experiences in a mixed-race family.
“I can’t believe he did that,” Anna stated when she heard the specifics regarding Eddie’s role in the murder.
“Dad always made it seem fine,” she added. “I never believed it went that deep.”
“Makes sense that you see it that way,” Gina responded. “Even calling it old-fashioned ’cause you’re too afraid to call it what it is.”
Anna later pressed Gina to explain, and she pointed out that she had not been treated the same as Gina due to her appearance. “You pass, Anna; you could be white,” Gina added.
“I’m just as black as you,” Anna responded, leading Gina to ask why people see them.
Gina remembered comments from Eddie that she must have her body “tamed,” people wanting to kiss her hair and males who would sexually abuse her.
“Why have you never backed me?” Gina added that Anna was no longer being criticized when she began bleaching her hair and straightening her locks.
“I’ve had to be tough… doesn’t mean I want to be, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt inside,” she added.
“You think I did that deliberately,” Anna responded, announcing that she felt like Gina had been “hating” her over the decades before she walked out of the cellar of the Vic in tears.
EastEnders broadcasts Mondays through Thursdays Thursdays at 7.30 pm on BBC One. The show is also available via BBC iPlayer, where most episodes are released early, in the morning, before the broadcast on TV.
