It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another gratuitous cute kid pic. Reader Jeremy S. wants the world to see his handsome son Liko.
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As a biracial girl myself, I have to let you know that no matter what you do, if people want to attempt to classify your sweet little girl, they are going will classify her! Your job is to give her the support and internal fortitude to not be bound by these tedious classifications.
I am half Caucasian and half Asian, and I have had an untold number of comments and questions from people attempting to classify me in their own feeble minds! Some were attempting to be kind, some not so much. In my youth, I used to rage against the ridiculousness of it all, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that you can’t change the world by being so full of animosity. I ignore stupid comments as much as I can, and realize that I can not control how people perceive me. I can however control how I perceive myself. I now have three beautiful children, who most definately favor me. And now the endless stupid comments persist ad infinitum! So I’ve endeavoured to teach my children to embrace and learn their ethnic history. For my two younger ones, luckily they have not encountered any overtly racial comments (at least not that they have been aware of). My older has come to me and confided some things people have said to him. I’ve tried hard to instill in him pride in his heritage and let him know that no matter what your ethnicity, people are going to make stupid comments!
So speaking from years of experience, please do not become agitated with ignorant comments from people. Believe me, this is only the beginning, and you have to develop the tough skin now, so you can help your daughter! My mother was literally fresh off the boat, so she was unprepared for the racism she received. So my sisters and I were raised with conflicting feelings about our heritage. I believe this was due in large part to our mother’s embarrassment over being non-white in a white man’s world. To the point where she no longer spoke to us in Chinese for fear we would develop an accent when we spoke English! I now have to struggle with flashcards, and software to remember a language that I feel is part of my birth rite!! So please don’t waste your energy trying to fight the world now, just focus on your daughter. Teach her the beauty of her different cultures. And face each challenge with the knowledge that she is beautiful, not in spite of her differences, but because of them! Good Luck!
Heh! What a great smile! He looks ready for the beach, too!
He’s gorgeous. Great colors for the photo, too!