Woods has famously referred to his mixed-race identity as ‘Cablinasian,’ a word he derived from Caucasian, black, American-Indian and Asian.
(WireImage, Gretchen Dow Mashkuri/Associated Press)

As a mother of a mixtkid and a wife in a biracial marriage, I recognize the unique challenges my husband and I face when raising our children. Of course, our first concern is raising our daughter to feel good about herself and to be comfortable in her own beautiful brown skin. This, my friends, is easier said than done. But, it’s not impossible.

All parents want to instill pride and self esteem into their children and as a multiracial family, our dreams for our children are no different. Years ago, I read 10 tips from author and parent, Patrice Farmer on raising a multiracial child. As we’ve raised our own daughter, we’ve taken these tips and enhanced with our own personal experience and thoughts. Of course, there’s no such thing as a textbook list of what you should or shouldn’t do, but these 10 tips set a great foundation for raising any mixed-race family.

10 Solid Tips For Raising An Empowered MixtKid

1) From the very beginning, understand and teach your child that no matter what their skin color, they are a mixture of races and should learn about and acknowledge them all.

2) Discuss personal identity early. It is much better that a child’s own parent explain what they are then to have another child or adult point that out in a negative fashion.

3) Introduce your child to all sides of their cultural history and background. This can be done with food, music, books, etc.

4) Very important…discuss your child’s feelings on race, skin color, culture and prejudices. What a kindergartener may feel is very different than a middle schooler, so discuss feelings as often as your child desires. Using pictures, articles, even rap videos will help facilitate open discussion.

5) Make sure your child gets to know others that look similar to themselves. If at all possible, make sure your child attends a school that is both diverse and open with cultural discussion and teaches about cultural diversity and acceptance.

6) Allow your child to label his or herself only. Stand up when other parents, teachers or persons try to label your child for them. Whether it’s meant to be mean or nice, when someone else determines whom your child is or isn’t, this takes away from their own personal power.

7) Self esteem, Self esteem, Self esteem. Teach your child to be proud of who they are, what they look like, the hair they have, the color of skin and anything else they’ve been given. Teach them that happiness starts from within and to love themselves first and foremost.

8) Children, no matter what race, can be jealous and sometimes even cruel. We’ve all seen it on the playground and wonder to ourselves, “How can this be?” As parents, we need to teach our children to admire others characteristics, not desire them. Again, this starts with self-esteem and learning to love oneself, but it still needs to be reinforced. We were each given what was meant to be ours (Hair texture, Eye color, Skin & Color, etc.) and should think of other people as being unique, just as we are.

9) Raise a well rounded child and help them to feel a part of all parts of their respective cultures. You can do this by introducing them to various aspects of their cultures such as art shows, dance recitals and such. A Ballet Folklorica Show or Gospel Revival can be fun and educational in teaching your child about who they are and where they came from.

10) Include as many culturally and ethnically diverse friends and family as possible. Even if not all family members are a part of your child’s life, find someone who will be. Sharing experiences and identifying with a good role model are imperative to a young child.

Renae Valdez-Simeon
Sr. Editor, MixtKids.com