Talking About Race With My Biracial 5-Year-Old


It’s interesting being a parent of biracial children in that like with most things with motherhood, I’m fumbling around in the dark.

Digging through my 5-year-old’s backpack, I ran across a worksheet on Martin Luther King, Jr.  Curious, I asked him what he learned about King in school.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Image from mattlemmon.

He told me that white people used to not let brown people do things and King made a lot of white people mad because he was helping the brown people.

Hmmm. Well, kinda.

Since … Read more ...

Race 2012: The documentary gave me a different view of my America

  • Racial debate in this country is a convenient excuse to not talk about class.
  • The Republican Party is currently white and the power-holders are white, but they need to reach out to the future voters, who increasingly are brown.
  • The Democratic Party only talks about race in terms or racial conservatism or racial moderation. It’s never about racial liberalism, because that means an assault on white priviledge

 

Powerful statements, right? Those and more were made during a recently aired documentary on PBS, called: Race … Read more ...

Our Hoodie Tribute to Trayvon Martin

I wanted our family to take part in some of the Trayvon Martin rallies in downtown Chicago. I thought it would be a good chance to be a part of combating an issue that some in America aren’t brave enough to admit exists.

But with rain clouds above and a small one with the sniffles, I scrapped our plans and decided to honor the slain 17-year-old suburban style: We had a Hoodie March to the park. And I use the term “march” loosely, as it … Read more ...

Real Talk: A White Girl and Black Girl Banter on Race

White people, did you ever want to ask someone black about being black, but were too worried about being labeled the “R” word? Black people, what about you? Have you ever wanted to tell a white person your unfiltered feelings but didn’t feel like dealing with the aftermath?

By Digitalart

You’re not alone. Me and one of my Caucasian gal pals have honest conversations about race a lot and we thought it would be kinda fun to share one of our talks with others. She … Read more ...

Praying I Don’t Have To Kill My Kid During My Radio Debut

I got the email on a Monday. It was an invitation to be a guest on a nationally syndicated morning radio show to talk about my piece on The Huffington Post. Ack!

Image by Salvatore Vuono

I can do a live Q&A on train derailments, workplace shootings, multi-vehicle pile-ups and other breaking death and destruction. But talk live about my frustrations with white folks?

Gulp. Aiight.

I grilled the producer on the KD Bowe Morning Show’s format. Is the whole thing live? Will … Read more ...