Multi-Cultural Families

[floridamcmarion1]

I was wondering if there are any other SAHD's on this site that are part of a multi-cultural family. My family consists of 4 children of various races brought together by foster-adoption. My 20 y/o is Puerto-Rican/black with her daughter being half Columbian, my 9 y/o is Mexican/white, my 4 y/o is African-American and my newborn is Haitian. It adds some challenges to life and I was just curious if there are any others reading this that can relate.

My favorite multi-cultural family story, which really happened to us about a year ago:

We took our family out to the movies one afternoon. We were just a family out for a good movie, but must have appeared otherwise. As we were walking in (2 white parents, 1 black/hispanic older girl, 1 mexican/white boy, and 2 african american toddlers) I overheard a little girl say to the man beside him "Daddy, what is that?" while she was looking straight at us. Her father paused for a moment looking quite confused and finally answered "It must be some kind of field trip."

[benj]

Mc1...We've got English, American, Mauritian, Welsh, and Uruguayan blood pulsating through the veins of my son and his immediate cousins...Like you, our coat of arms seems to be the United Nations flag...Unfortunately, kids learn predjudice from their role models...cheers.. benj

[mjknapp]

You have quite the diverse family going on, :lol: some kind of field trip :lol:

[Remington]

We are mostly English and German mix. My wife has a lot of Italian in her and stuff. My sister has a daughter with an african-american which she no longer is dating. Her daughter is 5 years old and has beautiful skin. The cross between the light and darker skin is a real nice tone.

[SAHF]

"It must be some kind of field trip."

Oh no. :shock:

Did you say something? Wow...if I was in your position, I would not know what to do. Laugh and explain or just press on and ignore. I think I would laugh and explain!

That poor dad! Kids can get us in some binds with just their words! :D

[floridamcmarion1]

It depends on the scenario whether or not I say something to people. In the case of the "field trip" I didn't say anything. It was obvious that the guy was so oblivious that it would have taken a while to get him to understand. From his look and demeanor I also would guess that he probably would have had a problem with a cross-racial family.

My wife and I have both taken the time to explain to numerous preschool age kids that our african american son really is our son. They don't usually get what the term foster means, but I'm sure they asked their parents when they got home. Kids, especially black kids, often can't comprehend how a white man can be the father of a black child.

My general rule of thumb is that if I believe a situation does not stem from bigotry I will try to explain. If I think a comment is based on bigotry I usually ignore it rather than acknowledge it, unless I happen to be in a mood at the time. It also depends on whether I consider a comment to be an attack, confusion or a real inquiry. The gloves come off if I feel my children are being attacked directly. I can ignore ingorance, but you had better not mess with my family.

[Jackson's Dad]

Our family is not multi-racial, but we are interfaith: Jewish and Catholic. No problems though -- both sides of our family are totally supportive. (It's a great feeling to learn how cool your parents can be.)

It has proved to be an amazing experience so far for us -- making us both more aware of our roots, and leading to some fascinating conversations back and forth. We are raising our son Jewish, so it should be interesting once he's old enough to understand that Dad is different. But that is the kind of child we want to raise -- one who not only accepts differences, but expects them as a normal part of being human.

[tt3]

Our marriage is a mixed marriage... Val roots for the Vikings, and I'm a Packers fan. She's republican to the core and I most certainly am not. (No, not Dem, either.) Not quite on topic, but I thought a little levity was in order...
My dad is Lutheran and mom and us kids were raised Catholic. It was interesting growing up on Sundays having dad go off to his church while we went to ours.

Certainly not a very good parallel to the topic, but heh, its what I can add :wink:

[Remington]

My family is mostly "luke-warm" Christians. Most are very open to accepting all faiths. I am the only intolerant jerk in the family. :wink:

[Muz]

I'm half Polish with the rest primarily English and German. My wife is 100% Filipino. She was raised Catholic, I was Protestant. Today, we are both more towards the agnostic end of the spectrum. We are aligned politically to the left.

Our families have always been supportive. I've had to learn to eat a lot of rice, but my wife eats more pizza and burgers than she used to.

[mjknapp]

Our marriage is a mixed marriage... Val roots for the Vikings, and I'm a Packers fan.

Wow, do you guys seperate two times a year when they play each other??? LOL That is a good rivalry, probably just as good as the Eagles Vs. Cowboys.

[tt3]

Nah, though we look pretty funny in our packers/vikings jerseys...
The only point of dissention is what Tara wears when they play each other, thankfully theres two games a season, so one game she wears green and gold, one she wears purple.
:lol: :D