mixing it up

Bringing a multiracial baby into todayÂs color-conscious world

The kindness (and unkindness) of strangers
Joan is East Indian and has dark skin. Her husband, Matthew, is Caucasian, with blond hair and blue eyes. Their daughter, Marie, is a mixture of both, with gray-blue eyes and brown skin. Once, at the beach, a man commented on Marie’s deep “tan,” then continued to ask intrusive questions about the child’s appearance.
    While Matthew simply laughed off the man’s pestering, such situations can be opportunities to educate other people. In fact, Pruett encourages taking an explanatory rather than a confrontational approach to tactless questions or remarks; responding angrily can do more harm to a child then the comment itself.
    Nica, whose daughter looks Caucasian, came to understand that most such remarks are innocently motivated. “People would assume I was the nanny, and that made me angry,” she says. “But then I looked around the park. Most of the babies were white and the nannies were brown, so in a way, it was a natural assumption.” Eventually, Daniel made Nica a T-shirt that says, “No, I’m not the nanny.”
    “I don’t get angry anymore,” Nica says. “Most of the time, when people ask obnoxious questions, I realize they do it mainly out of curiosity, and that makes them say things without thinking first.”

Downplaying the race card
By being secure in their own identity and infusing their family life with mini-lessons about heritage, parents of mixed-race babies can help their children develop a healthy sense of self. “Parents should expose their children to friends, experiences and activities that relate to both of their backgrounds,” says Poussaint. You can also use pictures and stories to teach your children about their heritage (see “Resources” at left). In the process, encourage them to see race as more about culture than appearance.
    Just keep in mind that as in any family, the main goal is to raise a healthy, happy child. “In the final analysis,” Pruett says, “race and ethnicity are only second-level concerns.”
    Or, as Daniel puts it: “The act of becoming a parent is so much bigger than the sideline issue of race.”