Raising biracial children in the DMV

[Anonymous]

Parent of a mixed race kid here (asian and white). Total non-issue so far, and DC attended a very diverse school, but one that only had a handful of asian students. No one cared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a mixed race kid here (asian and white). Total non-issue so far, and DC attended a very diverse school, but one that only had a handful of asian students. No one cared.

What about the rise of Christian nationalism? Is this of major concern to you yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a mixed race kid here (asian and white). Total non-issue so far, and DC attended a very diverse school, but one that only had a handful of asian students. No one cared.

What about the rise of Christian nationalism? Is this of major concern to you yet?

The rise of Hindutva is more concerning on a personal level. None of our white relatives are Christian nationalists and the DMV is not an area where that is a problem. On a national level it is obviously concerning as is what is happening in India.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to educate yourself.

America is the most racist country on the planet.

You must not travel much…or are white

[Anonymous]

Asian parent of white/Asian kid here. Plenty of other biracial kids around the area. My kid definitely looks biracial, and is the only white/Asian kid in their grade at their private school (and one of the few white/Asian or Asian kids in the whole school). Culturally our family is basically typically American. Almost no trace of my Asian heritage (I was raised entirely in the US anyway).

I have personally experienced racism here in the DC area, but I don't have the impression that my child has, yet.

[Anonymous]

My issues have been more with my Asian immigrant husband thinking his culture is better. Just tonight, I told him to go back if he continued to trash the US. He wasn't like this before we had kids. I agree with the other pp who said you might have more issues with the asian side. There's a disconnect between my husband's friends and me. I get along with his family wonderfully, but I get weird vibes from the Muslim families in my neighborhood. My kids are too liberal for them because I take them swimming and to trampoline parks. He's from a majority Muslim south asian country, not India.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My issues have been more with my Asian immigrant husband thinking his culture is better. Just tonight, I told him to go back if he continued to trash the US. He wasn't like this before we had kids. I agree with the other pp who said you might have more issues with the asian side. There's a disconnect between my husband's friends and me. I get along with his family wonderfully, but I get weird vibes from the Muslim families in my neighborhood. My kids are too liberal for them because I take them swimming and to trampoline parks. He's from a majority Muslim south asian country, not India.

I may be around ultra-conservative Muslims. We're in a condo building with many Muslim families like 10+. Moving soon, thank god. One family down the hall is religious but lets their kids talk sh** to mine and don't say anything. It's like they're clueless that they're bullying my son even though it happens in front of us. The mom speaks a lot about how religion is a thing for them, so why not teach your kids to be respectful.

[Anonymous]

My son is 1/2 Black/American Indian & 1/2 white. We know several other mixed-race families and kids. Usually the only people that ask or say anything are those who identify his heritage with theirs, and ask about tribal affiliation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a mixed race kid here (asian and white). Total non-issue so far, and DC attended a very diverse school, but one that only had a handful of asian students. No one cared.

What about the rise of Christian nationalism? Is this of major concern to you yet?

Agree; not to mention white supremacy/ trump.

[Anonymous]

We're in NoVa with biracial kids and haven't experienced any problems/issues. We were intentional when selecting a sleepaway camp to find one with a more diverse population of campers, as we noticed a lot of the videos from some of the area camps that had been recommended to us looked like
they had >90% white kids. I'm sure those camps/kids are great regardless and was not worried about racism per se, but we just didn't want to intentionally put our kids into position where outsized attention would inevitably be drawn to their being "different" (especially not at elementary age).

That's the only context that being biracial has really ever factored into our decision-making for our kids in this area, other than that we feel we can do anything / go anywhere just like anyone else and it's not an issue... no funny looks or anything that we've really noticed or experienced.

[Anonymous]

5% of all children born today are multiracial, US-wide, and it's expected to hit 10% in the next decade. You're overthinking things.

[Anonymous]

It's fine. You'll get occasional looks from people trying to figure out ethnicity. Or, if you have a child that strongly favors your husband, trying to figure out whether you are the nanny or the mother. White + Indian is a little unusual in this area, but it isn't unheard of. (I can think of three couples that meet the description at my small private school).