Introducing Diversity originally published November 21, 2008, on DC Metro Moms.
When we first got married, my white-bread Husband had some difficulty acclimating to mykimchi family. Or as he likes to say, my kimchi family had difficulty acclimating to him. As we are raising our bi-racial children (they’ve also been called mixed), it’s a priority for us to teach them about their two cultures. I want them to be aware of their identities and be comfortable with them, as well as to be at ease with other diverse people.
I feel fortunate to be raising my children in the DC metro area. I love that this area offers so many different cultures, races, sexual orientations, religions, socioeconomic levels, etc. My hope is to raise my kids to embrace people of all kinds and I am committed to introducing diversity to my children. The DC area gives plenty of opportunities for this to happen.
DC is a colorful area, but the same cannot be said for many of my friends. My closest friends started out as acquaintances at the church we still attend. Let’s just say my church is rather homogeneous, starting with the obvious that we are all the same religion. Even past that, most of us fill in the same boxes on survey forms—race, household income, political affiliation, etc. The Husband and I poke fun by whispering to each other, “I see white people!” when we see little-to-no people of color attending our church. My children and I are some of the only non-white people who attend the church and although I am not self-conscious about it, I don’t want my kids to be either.
The question of how one intentionally makes a diverse group of friends in a genuine manner perplexes me. I mean, I don’t want to be targeting a group of people just for the sake of having a friend from that group. It’s not cool to say, “I want to find an African American friend. Found one, check. Now it’s time for a homosexual friend. Check!” So on and so forth. It seems it’s tough to have it happen naturally and sincerely.
I need to let my desire for more diversity in my life work itself out. It’s there. I have a diverse group of friends and so do my children. I need to remember that. Strangely, in talking this over with my token Jewish friend, she commented that she finds it amusing that I’m worried about introducing diversity to my kids. “Your family is pretty much the embodiment of diversity!” she said. Huh. Yeah, I guess she’s right. I honestly hadn’t considered that the diversity here in my own family—immediate and extended—is something equally important. My kids will benefit from the differences that our family has to offer as well.
Original DC Metro Moms post. Michelle blogs about her diverse family and other interesting stuff at Wife and Mommy.
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Note: This post is re-posted here with permission from Silicon Valley Moms Group upon the announcement of their dissolution.
