[nee18]

My DH and I don't live in a very diverse town and we are trying to figure out ways to teach our DS (who's AA-we're CC) about his culture and to take pride in his culture as well. We've joined a parent support group for CC parents of AA children and are looking for a diverse church to join that's a good fit for our family. We're also planning (when the day comes) on putting our DS in some of the more diverse schools in the area (although, like I said, even those schools are primarily CC). I'm not the most creative person around and thought it'd be nice to hear ideas anyone else may have for how they're going to incorporate their child's culture/heritage into their family. The only other ideas we've thought of is, when DS is older, having one night each week where we eat food commonly enjoyed by his culture. I also thought about trying to get him a mentor of some kind that is the same race as him when he's older. We have a few friends that are the same race as him, but, truly, it's hard to meet a lot of people around here that aren't CC, so I don't think our social network is ever going to be a big source of strength for us in this area as much as we would like it to be. Does anyone else have any ideas or do anything in their family? I'd love to hear how other families celebrate their children's culture if it's different from their own.

[irelady10]

I am looking forward to hearing what people say in response to this thread!

A suggestion I heard/read somewhere is taking your child to a hair place that specializes in AA hair- here, your child will be exposed to people with the same heritage as he, and also, you will get to experience what it is like to be the minority in the room.

There is a great webite- it is called PACT, which specializes in transracial adoption.

[Celesyee]

We live in Hawai'i and I am Chinese American, DH is Filipino American, and DS is African American. While Hawai'i is a diverse and welcoming state, there is not a significant AA community here.

IMO culture and ethnicity are related, but are not the same thing. For example, since DH is 3rd generation in Hawai'i he identifies more with the Hawaiiana culture, but retains a strong ethnic pride of his Filipino heritage. DS will be raised and taught about the values of all of our cultures and to stand proud as an AA in addition to respecting other cultures. We plan to do this by introducing and exposing him to foods, traditions, and festivities all our's and other cultures.

As it is already, I cook a great variety of cuisines (Chinese, Indian, American, Mexican, Italian, etc.) Once DS is old enough, I plan to teach him about how such food was created and when (holiday, season, illness) it is historically or usually eaten.

Also, when he's older we plan to return to his birth state to learn more about his birth culture. DS's BF is originally from Trinidad so we do have a few Trinidadian children's story books, music CDs, and history/cultural books. We also plan to visit the San Francisco Bay Area, where I'm originally from and there is a larger AA community, in February during Black History Month and Chinese New Year to participate in cultural festivities.

As far as promoting a strong positive ethnic identity we plan to teach him how to properly care for his skin and hair, complimenting him on his skin tone, hair texture, etc.

Ooops, I'd write more but DS just woke up from his nap.