Hello everyone. I am new to mothering.com and this is my first post. I'm 22 yrs old, married to the love of my life and we are expecting our first baby, a girl!
My husband, Fernando, is American- born and raised in NYC. But his parents are Colombian (they moved back they several years ago as well).
I am a European mutt, so to speak. I was raised by my mostly Italian side, but I'm German more than anything else. I just consider myself a white American.
Anyway, I am wondering what other Moms have experienced with having biracial children? I never thought about it much before but I am concerned about how she will feel about her racial identity. I want her to feel proud of both her hertiages, and learn both Spanish and English. English will be easy since we live in America, so Fernando is going to speak Spanish exclusively to her and I'm trying to learn as well. She will also come with us to vist his family in Colombia (I havent been there yet either).
I just want her to feel accepted by both whites and Latinos, but I'm not sure how it will work out. We live in a VERY white..kind of country...neighboorhood in NJ. We have to stay here for now, but I dont want her to be the only Latina girl in school. That would be hard for her, I think.
I also want to educate myself about how to react if people say negative things about her, or ask offensive questions to me in front of her (like..'is she yours?'). She has a LOT of love, so I think she will be just fine. But since I am white I grew up diffrently than my husband. He helps me to see things in a new light, but I dont know what its like to grow up as a minority in America. Racism may be less blatant than it was 30 years ago but its alive and active :-(
I just want to protect my little girl forever from the world :-(
My husband, Fernando, is American- born and raised in NYC. But his parents are Colombian (they moved back they several years ago as well).
I am a European mutt, so to speak. I was raised by my mostly Italian side, but I'm German more than anything else. I just consider myself a white American.
Anyway, I am wondering what other Moms have experienced with having biracial children? I never thought about it much before but I am concerned about how she will feel about her racial identity. I want her to feel proud of both her hertiages, and learn both Spanish and English. English will be easy since we live in America, so Fernando is going to speak Spanish exclusively to her and I'm trying to learn as well. She will also come with us to vist his family in Colombia (I havent been there yet either).
I just want her to feel accepted by both whites and Latinos, but I'm not sure how it will work out. We live in a VERY white..kind of country...neighboorhood in NJ. We have to stay here for now, but I dont want her to be the only Latina girl in school. That would be hard for her, I think.
I also want to educate myself about how to react if people say negative things about her, or ask offensive questions to me in front of her (like..'is she yours?'). She has a LOT of love, so I think she will be just fine. But since I am white I grew up diffrently than my husband. He helps me to see things in a new light, but I dont know what its like to grow up as a minority in America. Racism may be less blatant than it was 30 years ago but its alive and active :-(
I just want to protect my little girl forever from the world :-(