What does the word “mixed” bring to your mind? 
I asked a few folks, and got the following responses:
- paint
- nuts
- breeds
- mutts
- greens
The Husband and I have had more discussion on The Question I was asked the other evening. The Husband is of the mind that it’s no big deal, that asking a person’s race is similar to asking what they do for a living. It is simply a description, or information to get to know a person better.
I see his point. I suppose people do tend to describe people according to ethnicity whether we want to or not and whether we verbalize it or not. So to see someone who doesn’t neatly fall into one of our usual categories of race can be confusing to some.
On the other hand, The Husband, the quintessential white male, has never, ever been asked about his skin color (other than in jest). Perhaps he wouldn’t find it uncomfortable if it were to actually happen to him. But I know I do and I don’t want my kids to feel singled out because they are questioned about their ethnicity and race.
Then again, maybe they won’t. I hope to raise them to have an awareness of who they are and to have pride in their multi-racial, multi-cultural status.
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