Raising a child Asian-American

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Mike Lee
My wife and I recently had a beautiful baby boy 3 months ago, and sometimes talk about how to raise him with a strong sense of his Korean-American identity. My wife and I are both Korean-American and were essentially born and raised here— she born in the U.S., and I [...]

Preparing our children for racism in the workplace

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Mike Lee
My wife and I — we are both in the medical field — never really thought about the “glass ceiling” concept because we often see people of varied ethnicities in high positions in our field. However, my wife’s cousins, who are in the business field, recently reminded us that it [...]

Raising children in a town without ethnic diversity

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Mike Lee

My wife and I currently live in Central California which is different for us since it has that small town sort of feel. The majority of the population is Caucasian and Latino. Overall, there is a large conservative population here.

As a future parent, Jenny and I thought about whether we could raise a child in this area. It is completely different from what we are used to, being that I am from Orange County and my wife is from Chicago where there is significantly more ethnic diversity.

Columnist Intro: Mike

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Mike Lee

It is a privilege to be asked to be a guest blogger on Anti-Racist Parent. Until high school, I grew up in a predominantly non-Asian environment. I was one of those Asian-American kids who wished he was white with blond hair and blue eyes. A significant portion of my high school years was spent near or at the beach in Southern California, where most of my friends were either brown haired or blond. They always got the attention of the girls, and I was usually the nice “Asian” guy that the girls wanted as just a friend. The main Asian exposure I got back then was the Korean Church I attended, my best friend who was Korean, and my family. I look back at those days and think about how ignorant I was about the whole race identity issue. My friends back then never talked about race or racism. They were too busy trying to hook up with as many girls as they could. I just remember having low self esteem and trying so hard to fit in that I did not care so much for my Asian identity. If I ever got teased for being Asian, I would just shrug it off and smile, since I just wanted to be part of the “cool” group.