[mamabee]

I hestitate to write this and I pray no one is offended because I certainly do not wish to offend anyone. However, I have a bi-racial (white/black) son and I have always wondered: which box do you check when filling out questionaires about race? It's kind of humerous...but what color is he?

[leaabc123]

you could check other.

[joskimo]

my older daughter is biracial, 1/4 NA and 3/4 CC - when I can, I check both boxes, but when I have to pick one race I pick the NA - that's probably technically not correct, but that's waht I do. I guess for me, I don't want dd to get to a point where it's easier to deny her heritage. We have a real issue w/NA pride where I live and the communities are more active about trying to work with young people to feel their cultural pride and identity.

[LisaCA]

you could check other, but most would classify your child as Black. Black folks are all shades .This isn't to deny the white half, but to realize how "race" plays out here in the united states with all the historical baggage that comes with that. when he's older he can think about the complexity of race and how he fits in. Much of it depends on how he looks visually.

here is an article that discusses the term "biracial" : http://www.pactadopt.org/press/articles/emperor.html

there's also a great book that I purchased for dd. depending on how old your son is, he may find it useful. the book is Shades of Black and the authors are Sandra and Myles Pinkney (listed on amazon as ages 4-8, but dd's 20 months and loves it). it shows the many shades of blackness, and does it with beautiful language and pictures of black kids.

Lisa

[NDN]

Originally Posted by joskimo

my older daughter is biracial, 1/4 NA and 3/4 CC - when I can, I check both boxes, but when I have to pick one race I pick the NA - that's probably technically not correct, but that's waht I do. I guess for me, I don't want dd to get to a point where it's easier to deny her heritage. We have a real issue w/NA pride where I live and the communities are more active about trying to work with young people to feel their cultural pride and identity.

Not sure where you are from...but in the U.S. the technicality on this (as far as "legal" documents--school, etc) is, if she is documented as being a descendent of a member of a federally recognized tribe (generally a CDIB card is the documentation) then you must check NA. If she does not have legal documentation of ancestry, or is decended from a non-recognized tribe, then (for legal documents) she is CC...because the federal government does not recognize her as NA. As for the issue that you mentioned...I think that it is a good idea to mark both or NA whenever possible. Just thought I'd give you a heads up on the legal technicality on this one as it can cause quite a stir. There are schools in at least one state the are in potential legal trouble right now for allowing children to document as NA when the tribe they belong to is not federally recognized.

[joskimo]

Originally Posted by NDN

Not sure where you are from...but in the U.S. the technicality on this (as far as "legal" documents--school, etc) is, if she is documented as being a descendent of a member of a federally recognized tribe (generally a CDIB card is the documentation) then you must check NA. If she does not have legal documentation of ancestry, or is decended from a non-recognized tribe, then (for legal documents) she is CC...because the federal government does not recognize her as NA. As for the issue that you mentioned...I think that it is a good idea to mark both or NA whenever possible. Just thought I'd give you a heads up on the legal technicality on this one as it can cause quite a stir. There are schools in at least one state the are in potential legal trouble right now for allowing children to document as NA when the tribe they belong to is not federally recognized.

DD is registered with BIA, after we got flack with the DH's corporation referring to him as a "half-breed". Now how PC is that? And yes, the school required documentation, which I found unusual, why is no other race required to present documenation of heritage? Also, wanted to add that the school data is not the only "box" - in life we see racial identifiers on many forms and really in many other aspects in life, and my point was that I think it's important that my daughter identify with that part of her heritage.

[Sleeplvr]

All my biracial foster kids were designated as black. The first one initially had his race listed as white because he was assigned his mom's race. The state quickly rectified that after seeing him. When we were called about their placements they were described as biracial but for legal purposes they were black.

The same with my DD she is technically multiracial, AA, asian and CC but she is listed as black on her legal documentation which includes her birth certificate.

The article on the Pact website was great. I'm going to save that for future reference.

[Kelli]

Originally Posted by FH-LisaCA

you could check other, but most would classify your child as Black. Black folks are all shades .This isn't to deny the white half, but to realize how "race" plays out here in the united states with all the historical baggage that comes with that. when he's older he can think about the complexity of race and how he fits in. Much of it depends on how he looks visually.

here is an article that discusses the term "biracial" : http://www.pactadopt.org/press/articles/emperor.html

I agree with Lisa, and like Sleeplvr I thought the article was right on point. I'm reminded of a story that I once heard Halle Berry share on a talk show. She said her white mother once put her and her sister in front of a mirror and asked them what they saw. They said brown faces, and her mom replied "beautiful brown faces and that is what the world will also see." Her mother thought it was important and in their best interest to identify themselves as Black (like their father) though she herself was White. From that moment she began to identify herself as a Black woman. There are still many people who do not realize that she is in fact bi-racial. First Black women to win a Best Actress Oscar as she proudly exclaimed!

[joskimo]

Originally Posted by Kelli

I agree with Lisa, and like Sleeplvr I thought the article was right on point. I'm reminded of a story that I once heard Halle Berry share on a talk show. She said her white mother once put her and her sister in front of a mirror and asked them what they saw. They said brown faces, and her mom replied "beautiful brown faces and that is what the world will also see." Her mother thought it was important and in their best interest to identify themselves as Black (like their father) though she herself was White. From that moment she began to identify herself as a Black woman. There are still many people who do not realize that she is in fact bi-racial. First Black women to win a Best Actress Oscar as she proudly exclaimed!

I've always loved that statement from Halle Berry- and I think about it all the time with my daughter.

[leaabc123]

I think however people want to identify is what should be honored however they should be able to acknowledge all parts of themselves regardless of what the world sees.

Tiger Woods is a great example of this. He refused to acknowledge one piece of himself over the rest and got a lot of flack for it.

[Kelli]

I'm sure I sound like a broken record because I've shared the story here countless times. I like that Halle shared that story too and think it bears repeating when the topic of "how to identify" is brought up.

[Kelli]

Lea, I respectfully disagree about Tiger. I think that name he made up was silly and it just seemed like a way to not acknowledge "Black."

[Sleeplvr]

I'm not feeling the Tiger thing either. His father is black and his mom is Asian why does he feel the need to embellish it? That is usually done to downplay blackness.

[leaabc123]

I am not getting into the whole "embellishment" thing. Can't say I disagree there but if he wants to acknowledge all pieces of himself, more power to him.

Our girls are AA or Black and they will be raised to be proud of that. If I have a baby (we are now trying agan), the baby will be white and asian and we will acknowledge that as well.

Tiger was the only example in general population I could think of. In my opinion, people who are multi racial, bi-racial or whatever should be able to identify with all pieces of their culture. Either/Or doesn't work for me.

That being said, if we did have a bi-racial child, we would teach him or her that the world might see him one way and help him find ways to deal with that.

[NDN]

Originally Posted by joskimo

DD is registered with BIA, after we got flack with the DH's corporation referring to him as a "half-breed". Now how PC is that? And yes, the school required documentation, which I found unusual, why is no other race required to present documenation of heritage? Also, wanted to add that the school data is not the only "box" - in life we see racial identifiers on many forms and really in many other aspects in life, and my point was that I think it's important that my daughter identify with that part of her heritage.

I totally agree with you on helping her identify with her ancestry...just wanted to give you the FYI on the legal stuff cause some folks don't know, and often no one tells them. Also...I feel your pain on the "half-breed" thing. I'm a "breed" as well and deplore the term.