When I read that a Louisiana judge had refused to issue a marriage license to a biracial couple out of concern that "most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society" it brought back memories. About 20 years ago I informed the people I worked with that after 10 years of trying my wife and I were going to have a baby. We were adopting and we had opted for a biracial child after being told that the wait time would just be weeks but for any other category of child it would be years. The senior member of my work team told me he thought biracial children were to be pitied using almost the same words as the Louisiana judge. There were nods of agreement with this opinion all around -- it seemed to be the consensus opinion. Later 2 women (out of the 60 people who worked there) each told me privately that they disagreed - they thought biracial children were beautiful.
Once we got our baby boy and a year later a girl we discovered that "I think your child/children is/are beautiful" was a kind of code phrase of support for white parents with biracial children that we would occasionally get from strangers in public. It would have never occurred to us that our children were anything other than beautiful, even if no one else had told us that, but it was nice to occasionally have it confirmed.
Judging from the almost universal condemnation of the Louisiana judge's opinions on this, public opinion on biracial children has really shifted in the last 20 years. But how could it be otherwise. Above is a 16 year old picture of my children. How could anyone think they were anything other than beautiful?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Louisiana judge thinks biracial children are to be pitied
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3 comments:
Your children are indeed beautiful.
I have taught school for 34 years and have, in that time, worked with many beautiful biracial children. Indeed, the kindest, most thoughtful and considerate student I ever worked with was a biracial girl who looked as beautiful as your two children. She was also a top notch student and popular with everyone in the class. She was being raised by two women.
The longer I live the more I grow to distrust stereotypes.
Bi racial kids can grow up to be President of the United States. It's sad that some people can't see beyond skin color!
they are beautiful. Aren't we all somehow a mix of something? I'm biracial (from 2 cultures) and very proud of my mixed heritage. One of my best friend is a black and white mix, she is the most beautiful woman I know.
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