A couple years ago we shared a popular video series making its way around the internet: Sh*t White Girls Say…To Black Girls Part 1, Sh*t White Girls Say…To Black Girls Part 2, Sh*t Mixed People Get. Today I ran across “@#$% People Say to Transracial Families”
Enjoy!
Your friends at iCelebrateDiversity.com
I Am Invisible
~by Haley Thurman
I am invisible
I hate to be invisible
I am invisible
Do you think I am invisible?
I think you think I am invisible
You can’t see me
You can’t see Haley
I am a girl
I am biracial and half white
Is it the white in me you don’t like?
Is it my black that’s invisible to you?
I have brown hair and brown eyes
My lips are red
My shirt is yellow
But you don’t see me because I am invisible
Or are you blind?
This was originally on Oprah in November, 1999. Below is the video and interesting segment of being biracial in America (includes singer, Mariah Carey). Maybe we can get an update on Oprah’s #wherearetheynow. I find it sad that there are still such negative comments written today…your thoughts?
Enjoy!
Your friends at iCelebrateDiversity.com
~Every child is entitled to love and full membership in her family.
~Every child is entitled to have his culture embraced and valued.
~Every child is entitled to parents who know that this is a race conscious society.
~Every child is entitled to parents who know that she will experience life differently than they do.
~Every child is entitled to parents who are not looking to “save” him or to improve the world.
~Every child is entitled to parents who know that being in a family doesn’t depend on “matching.”
~Every child is entitled to parents who know that transracial adoption changes the family forever.
~Every child is entitled to be accepted by extended family members.
~Every child is entitled to parents who know that, if they are white, they benefit from racism.
~Every child is entitled to parents who know that they can’t transmit the child’s birth culture if it is not their own.
~Every child is entitled to have items at home that are made for and by people of his race.
~Every child is entitled to opportunities to make friends with people of her race or ethnicity.
~Every child is entitled to daily opportunities of positive experiences with his birth culture.
~Every child is entitled to build racial pride within her own home, school, and neighborhood.
~Every child is entitled to have many opportunities to connect with adults of the child’s race.
~Every child is entitled to parents who accept, understand and empathize with her culture.
~Every child is entitled to learn survival, problem-solving, and coping skills in a context of racial pride.
~Every child is entitled to take pride in the development of a dual identity and a multicultural/multiracial perspective on life.
~Every child is entitled to find his multiculturalism to be an asset and to conclude, “I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
Adapted by Liza Steinberg Triggs from “A Bill of Rights for Mixed Folks,” by Marilyn Drame (which in-turn was adapted from Dr. Maria P. P. Roots, “A Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage).
Cultural Cookies provide a unique way to share the message, “we’re more alike than different!”
We have taken the fun of fortune cookies and combined them with proverbs around the world to show that all human beings share similar experiences in life, no matter how different our backgrounds.
Proverbs in one culture are frequently similar to proverbs expressed in other cultures. For instance, the French “Qui vole un oeuf vole un boeuf” translates to “He who steals eggs steals cattle,” compared to the American proverb “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile.”
These fun cookies can be used at home to spark discussion, as icebreakers in the office or classroom, an activity during diversity training, or simply on top your desk as a fun way to remind staff or students that people are much more alike than different.
I have been privileged to do some diversity training with families who have adopted transracially. One activity that I have seen agencies use is called “Your World, My World”. I have seen the activity used with beads that in the shades of people.
Instructions:
Give each family a clear plastic cup. Assign a race to each color of bead (i.e. caucasian/white, african/african american/black, asian/yellow, middle eastern/native american/biracial/brown, etc.).
Ask parents to place a bead of the respective color in the cup for:
Look at your cup and get a clear understanding of the world your child will enter. Understand that you have the opportunity and responsibility to surround your child with a diverse array of positive role models.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
I’m so excited about starting this blog! It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a while but I wasn’t sure exactly what approach I wanted to take with it. Well, this weekend I sat on a panel at a transracial adoption workshop and know exactly what I want to do! I want to create a place where we can share our experiences of having a multiracial family, ask questions, post frustrations, share resources and encourage each other. This is my first blog, so I’m going to have to learn how to navigate the blogosphere, but I’m looking forward to the journey! Will you join me?
MultiracialFamily.net 
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