Below is an email I received a couple of weeks ago from the concerned mother of a biracial son. It's truly heartbreaking that people will judge this mother's child based on his skin color. But the difference between what his life will be and what mine was, is that his parents are being proactive early in his life so as to minimize the psychological damage that could potentially occur. For that, I salute this woman!
But before I giver her my answer, I invite you readers to leave your comments. Check back here periodically to stay updated on this topic:
"Hello,
I am currently a senior at the University of North Texas, and am writing a paper on a discriminated population. I was very excited to get to work on this piece because I knew exactly what group I was passionate about. I chose to research and write about biracial people in the United States. My son is one of them. I am a white 24 year-old woman and his father is African American. Our son is prominently darker than me and obviously mixed with another race. The majority of the time I do not think about our differences because he is my son and he is perfect. But recently, it was brought to my attention when we were at the grocery store and my three year-old son shouted, "Look, Mommy! She has black like me!" He said this with great excitement as he pointed to his arm. I didn't catch on until I looked at the little African American girl he was referring to. It was so innocent and so precious to me that my son is starting to realize that there are different races out there, and not everyone is the same. I desperately want my son (and any potential children I have) to be well-rounded in both their heritages. What I am getting at, is how I can make sure that is happening as I raise him? What did your parents do when you were faced with being called the awful "n" word? Thank you for all that you do to advocate.
Sincerely,
Devin Gorton"
Your Hip Hapa,
Yayoi
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