The Study of Racialism

Liana · Guru Joined: 30 Nov 2004 {Posts: 352 }

Mommy, Im cinnamon!
Raising multiracial kids in America today

It used to be either youre black or youre not, Now, people are starting
to realize that by saying youre both, youre not rejecting either, but
including all aspects of yourself.
G. REGINALD DANIEL author of More Than Black? Multiracial Identity and the New Racial OrderJOE SAMBERG

As the mother of two multiracial children, a blend of African American and white families, Ill never forget the day when my daughter came home from kindergarten and
announced excitedly, Guess what, Mommy? Im cinnamon and my best friend is spice.
After years of hearing strangers ask me, What is she? she figured out the answer for herself; all it took was an enlightened art teacher with multicultural crayons.

From the first day of their lives, multiracial children are the object of unusual attention.
Although mostly positive, its still overwhelming to childrenthey dont understand why strangers ask if theyre adopted, where their father was born, or where their curly hair came from.

At least 2.9 million children are more than one race, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
Many others live in mixed-race families through adoption or foster care. Here is some advice from experts and parents raising multiracial children.

Prepare for a lifetime of being stared at

Sabrina Chen-Lozano and her husband, Anthony, knew their Chinese-Mexican-American children
would need to be prepared for the onslaught of questions from day one, says Sabrina. Whether its the grocery store, in school, or anywhere, they are asked, What are you? Mostly its not intended to be harmful, but our kids definitely get tired of it.

Families can tell their children that they attract attention because their looks are hard to identify or not easily matched with their parents. At the same time, you can point out similarities. In my own family, while my childrens skin and hair color are different from both their fathers and mine, the shape of our eyes is the same, and they have dimples like their father.

Dont let strangers questions fluster you

Parents of multiracial children need a pat, automatic answer to those inevitable qustions. If parents get angry each time theyre asked or assume the worst of strangers, its just time and energy wasted. Give people the benefit of the doubt and dont give the question more power than it deserves, says Marguerite Wright, mother of two biracial children and author of Im Chocolate, Youre Vanilla, Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World.

Wright says that even children as young as seven find the question intrusive and feel that strangers are
trying to pigeonhole them. Some parents answer with a factual description of the childs heritage. Others say, God made them this way, or Shes mixed, or simply, Thats personal.

What can teachers and child care providers do to support multiracial families?

Serving Biracial and Multiethnic Children and Their Families, by the Child Care Health
Program, is a guidebook for early childhood educators, including a 30-minute video and
posters of mixed-race families. Among its recommendations: Talk about differences and similarities. When young children ask about differences in skin color and hair, teachers can have children share many kinds of information about their families, by asking questions
such as Who has a TV? Who has brothers and who has sisters? In these conversations,
children can recognize that families have differences and similarities and understand
that no color or person is better than another.

Talk with families of mixed-race children to see if they have suggestions of how to incorporate the diversity of their family, including family traditions, stories, or books
that highlight multiracial children. Ask children to create a self-portrait and provide crayons and other materials emphasizing diversity. Crayola, for example, makes multicultural crayons and colored pencils with colors such as mahogany, apricot, burnt sienna, goldenrod, and sepia.

Find dolls and puppets in a wide range of colors and ethnicities, as well as dress-up clothes, pretend food, and musical instruments from a variety of cultures. Pictures on the wall should also reflect the diversity of the classroom, the families, and the world, including posters of mixed-race families.

Serving Biracial and Multiethnic Children and Their Families is available at the CHP website, www.childcarehealth.org or by calling 510-839-1195.

Find ways to expose your child to all aspects of his heritage

The ideal is for children to have a chance to visit with both sides of the family, says Nancy Brown,
Culver City psychiatrist and president of the Association of Multiethnic Americans. If that isnt possible, families can teach children about their background through food, books, music, religious services, and friends. Its easiest to teach them about their identity through the life that you lead, she says. When her two multiracial daughters were children, Brown took them to a variety of cultural festivals. It was important to me that they see the world as full of different kinds of people, she says
Because the Lozanos children grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, Sabrina and Anthony
felt it was important to import our own cultures into the family, giving their children access to both
Mexican and Chinese traditions.

Dont force your child to choose an identity

Some families believe that if a mixed-race child looks black, she should adopt a black identity, says G. Reginald Daniel, author of More Than Black? Multiracial Identity and the New Racial Order
and an associate professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara. Daniel, whose own
identity includes African American, East Indian, German, French, and Native American, says he was always confused because his parents told him only that he was black. It used to be either youre
black or youre not, he says. Now, people are starting to realize that by saying youre both, youre not rejecting either, but including all aspects of yourself.

The Association of Multiethnic Americans was influential in changing the U.S. Census forms, so that in 2000 Americans could choose more than one race. The whole idea of picking one just resulted in lots of painful confusion, says Brown. From the very beginning, we told [our children] they were 100 percent both European American and African American. Helen Helfer, author of Footprints on the Land: American Stories About Race, says that in raising her son, now 28, who is both black and white, It was always important for him to feel very aware and proud of who he is and where he comes from.

The AMEA is developing a national resource center for the multiracial and transracial adoptee community. For more information, www.ameasite.org or www.mavinfoundation.org.
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BlendedBeauty · New User Joined: 23 May 2005 {Posts: 22 }