It was summer and I was about 10 years old. “Doesn't she look just like Pocahontas?” a family member asked/ announced to a room full of people- all of whom were white. “Look at her long, black hair and she has the perfect tan! I wish I could be that tan all year round” she continued.
When you’re mixed race, it’s easy to feel as though you have no real home. You aren’t enough of anything to really, truly fit in anywhere; so, you inhabit the in-between.
When confronted with a situation where you feel attacked or questioned in regards to your race/mix, most of us give the benefit of the doubt. “Oh, they are just curious”, “they didn’t mean it that way”, “they were actually giving a compliment”. But do we do this too much? Were we trained that way by our parents and if so, are we now training our kids to do the same?
Much of the time biracial/multiracial/mixed people spend on earth is dedicated to fitting in. Fitting in with both sides of our families, fitting in with our friends, fitting in at school, fitting in at work.
If you are a biracial/multiracial child being raised by both parents, odds are that you’d be exposed to both/all cultures about the same amount of time. You might celebrate all the different holidays, visit the home countries of your parents, learn more than one language.
