The non-"white" babies

rainydayluck · February 2014

There is a post on edited: make that third tri that was interesting. If you are having a multi/biracial baby, what will you have them checked off as?

Here is the post: https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12260934/multi-racial-babies-and-mommas#latest

DD is 1/4 Mexican since I'm 1/2 (my dad is from Mexico) and I always check her off as Hispanic, but she doesn't look Hispanic at all. She may not grow up with the exposure to the culture I had since we live far from family so I'm afraid she won't understand that part of her culture (I'm not super into doing Mexican stuff without family around).

Anyway, thoughts?

alyssajanell5 · February 2014

Ours will be 1/4 Filipino. We so want him to know his Filipino heritage. It's a big part of my husbands side. I think I'd check both.

lv2011 · February 2014

No one has to self identify by their culture. I'm sure your DD will be fine with whatever you bring to her upbringing.

Miles2Go · February 2014

I'm 1/2 Puerto Rican, so my babies are 1/4. I came out looking completely Caucasian with blue eyes, like my dad. My brother came out with olive skin, black hair and brown eyes like my mom. Many people thought we were a step family. I am listed as Hispanic on all paperwork, and was all the way through school. I checked my dd off as white, because, well, it's the color she is. Even if she has Hispanic heritage. She'll know her heritage though. I mean, my mom already sings her a bunch of lullabyes in Spanish and has taught her a few words.

momthatlifts · February 2014

I'm full of a bunch of stuff but H is part Korean. His mom is Korean but she was a foster kid so she doesn't know her parents and did not have a traditional Korean upbringing and neither did H.

rainydayluck · February 2014

Jane C said:
My DH is 100% Mexican. But even his birth certificate lists him as Caucasian - Hispanic is like a sub category.

I guess I mean in general, like throughout life, not just the BC.

knash87 · February 2014

My daughter is <1/2 Peruvian from DH side. She totally has my coloring (dark drown hair, green eyes, light skin), her skin is just a bit darker though. I call her my Peruvian Princess, though we are probably the only ones who can 'see' the Peruvian in her. She will grow up knowing both cultures and I love that.

CMDR513 · February 2014

I am 1/2 Hispanic and 1/2 White. I always check off Hispanic because White often says white, non Hispanic. Looking at me (or my sisters) you can't tell we're Hispanic as my Dad is lighter skinned than other Argentinians until he tans. DS is therefore 1/4 Hispanic and 3/4 White. It never even dawned on me to choose anything but White since he's majority White.

Mbecker912 · February 2014

Here in the NYC area almost everywhere has a "2 or more races" box and that's what we are putting I refuse to put "other" our baby boy will be 1/2 Hidpanic and 1/2 Caucasian we want our children to be proud id and identify as themselves not as a race

TheBeeCharmer · February 2014

My kids are Native, but are extremely "white looking" they have almost red hair and green eyes. They are only 1/4. My whole life I've alternated between "white" and "native" on forms. It doesn't matter as much to me, it is more about tribal affiliation, traditions sic.

Magheeta · February 2014

This is interesting bc I was just filling out the preregistration paperwork yesterday. I'm Caucasian, DH is half Caucasian, 1/4 Mexican (gma from Mexico) and 1/4 Native American (gpa from Mexico, too). He is listed as Hispanic and Native American on his birth certificate, but there wasn't an area for the baby's race/heritage to be listed. Is that something that's done based off what the parents list, or will we complete that once he is here?

Also, DH's Mexican/Native American comes from his dad, who was adopted by his Caucasian step-dad (last name changed), so there's is pretty much no indication of his heritage until you either see his Dad or get him out in the sun

awc1986 · February 2014

Our daughter will be 1/8 Swiss. We will be teaching her all about toblerone, skiing and nazi gold.

frugalwife · February 2014

Our state newborn screening requires us to use mom's race when filling out the form.

rainydayluck · February 2014

Ok, so to make this more (possibly) controversial, I have another question. Those that mark or will mark their kids as white, but the kids can claim a minority or other ethnicity/race, will you use that on things like college applications, scholarships, have them apply for scholarships aimed at particular ethnicities and races? Like if you have marked them off as white all their life, will you change it up if there is a possible benefit for them to claim their minority status?

dogsombrero · February 2014

I'm 100% pasty white my family has lived in the same county for over 300 years (yikes!) and DH is 1/2 German 1/2 Mexican. I guess we will put white and hispanic? I have no idea. DH is 3rd generation and his father doesn't even know Spanish because his grandparents were afraid of discrimination, although the food and family/religion centered culture is very much a part of his upbringing. We also have a Hispanic last name with a first name like Laura I get a lot of Spanish-speaking telemarketers just based on my name.

iqwedding3 · February 2014

I'm confused, where do you have to check stuff off?

Mittens14 · February 2014

I am white, DH is black (100% Haitian). When filling out forms I either check both black and caucasion or just black (depending on whether or not it says to only check one). I have never filled out anyting that asks for the mothers ethnicity only.

LeeLee86 · February 2014

My DH moved here at 14 from Nicaragua. I'm white bread. DD will be marked as Hispanic and will be fluent in Spanish + culture. I thinks it's really important and she can identify with it and use it her whole life (scholarships etc). I love that she will have traditions and culture when I nvr really did. Hopefully I'll be fluent by the time she is lol I'm almost there

cweiss04 · February 2014

hmmm I never even thought about this....my fiancé is 100% Peruvian and im 1/2 Russian and 1/2 polish so not sure what I would check off when it gets to that point

Jillzy86 · February 2014

I am in the same boat. I am 1/2 Mexican the other 1/2 Irish and German. My DH is Swidish, English, and Irish. My son will be all of these things and his name will not have any Hispanic influence because he will be taking my DH's last name and I went with an English/ Irish first name for him. I've been trying to think of way to incorporate some of our Hispanic heritage. But I think I will have to mark white non Hispanic on his charts which makes my heart break just a little. I had a tiny panic attack when I realized that he wouldn't be considered Hispanic. Also my guess is he will either have red/ blond hair because that's what my mom and DH have, so he will look very Irish, which I love. So even if I marked off Hispanic no one would believe it. I think we just have to embrace that we are all blessed to be in a melting pot of different ethnic backgrounds!

MunchkinMoon · February 2014

I'm 100% Venezuelan, DH is 100% Nicaraguan (what's up, @LeeLee86! Haha) so DS will be 100% white/caucasian (you know Hispanic is not a race, right?)

I never understood the whole documenting ethnicity here. I never had to do it until I moved to the US (at least where I'm from, you never even really had to mark or "choose" a race anywhere), so is this something we need to do on the birth certificate?

And yes, DS will be using that for college applications and such, like I did. But hopefully he'll be just as successful as we were (thank heavens!) that his admissions/accolades will never come down to "ok, we have two good candidates, but this one is Hispanic, so let's go with him". Hopefully he'll always be top pick!

LeeLee86 · February 2014

@munchkinmoon that's so cool!! Does he try to make you eat/make Vigoron? I can't get past the chicharron or cabbage stuff. That's what his mom is for lol.

Your 2nd point is very well said. But I do think being fluent in a second language is sure to get you " the bump" regardless of your checked race box. It has helped my husband immensely in his professional life here. Hopefully we all get more and more comfortable where it doesn't matter though.

motoLyn · February 2014

That's a good question as to what my son will be checked off as.... I'm Vietnamese and my husband is Danish he moved here when he was 15 and I was born in the US. Though my parents raised me knowing my culture and traditions. My husband and his family also celebrate all Danish traditions and fully know their culture well.

I really hope that we can raise DS with a mix of both his heritages. For what I can figure out baby coconut will be American. An odd duck I bet when it comes to home life and holiday traditions. Oh I can only imagine when someone asks DS what he likes to eat "I like pickled herring and pork dipped in fish sauce" hahaha.

oscarwao · February 2014

Posted on third-tri when I meant to post here. Here's what I said:

This baby will be half white and half Latino. Maybe I'm indifferent, but I could care less what box gets checked off/what she identifies with. I'll have to ask for DH's input on this, he may have more input than I do on the topic.

I also want to add I am NOT looking forward to all the people who are going to make this child's physical traits a topic of discussion due to her ethnic makeup (DH and I are polar opposites in terms of the color spectrum, so I'm sure people are going to blah blah blah about LO being blended). I just get annoyed at the amount of people who act like being biracial/multi-ethnic is some kind of novelty.

oscarwao · February 2014

LeeLee86 said:

@munchkinmoon that's so cool!! Does he try to make you eat/make Vigoron? I can't get past the chicharron or cabbage stuff. That's what his mom is for lol. Your 2nd point is very well said. But I do think being fluent in a second language is sure to get you " the bump" regardless of your checked race box. It has helped my husband immensely in his professional life here. Hopefully we all get more and more comfortable where it doesn't matter though.

Being bilingual is immensely important in terms of jobs where I live (hospitality/tourism district in Florida). But I do think being bi-literate can be really useful as well. I teach in an area with many bilingual students who struggle with reading/writing when it comes to their mother-tongue, and I imagine that it may benefit them later on to be able to read/write well in said foreign language.

Miles2Go · February 2014

No, Hispanic is not an option on the birth certificate form. You would check white and then there is another part that asks if the baby is of Hispanic descent. At least, that's how it was when dd was born in 2012.

sisterjanet · February 2014

awc1986 said:

Our daughter will be 1/8 Swiss. We will be teaching her all about toblerone, skiing and nazi gold.

Don't forget high-quality time pieces and numbered bank accounts.

LeeLee86 · February 2014

@kimberlykl2009 I 100% agree. DH is the only one of his cousins who can read, write and speak fluently. It's such a shame. I am definitely enrolling DD in Spanish classes. I live in the DC area so hopefully we can get her into a bi-lingual school too. My mom teaches ESL and its such a struggle as an adult, it's important to learn as a little one.

MNeforos · February 2014

My husband is 1/2 Korean and I am White so our son will be 1/4 Asian. My husband identifies mostly as White and we will also mark the same for our kids but we plan on raising them to know their backgrounds.

jjtyler · February 2014

My husband is half Colombian (his Dad just recently moved back to Medellin) and honestly doesn't really look Spanish...so my daughter is and now my son will be 1/4 Colombian. My daughter is a clone of me with Ivory white skin and brown hair.

It doesn't really matter to me, but I do know that there are a ton of scholarships that they would be eligible for with their Hispanic heritage. For that, I will check off those buckets (Latino/Hispanic)...I mean, my Italian and Irish mix does nothing for them with that, lol.

bumpuser10194737 · February 2014

MNeforos said:

My husband is 1/2 Korean and I am White so our son will be 1/4 Asian. My husband identifies mostly as White and we will also mark the same for our kids but we plan on raising them to know their backgrounds.

My DH is half Korean also. I think he tends to identify more with being Korean though, even though he is adopted and his adoptive parents were not. Our oldest son definitely looks a bit Asian, but you can barely tell with our second.

Xath · February 2014

LeeLee86 said:
@kimberlykl2009 I 100% agree. DH is the only one of his cousins who can read, write and speak fluently. It's such a shame. I am definitely enrolling DD in Spanish classes. I live in the DC area so hopefully we can get her into a bi-lingual school too. My mom teaches ESL and its such a struggle as an adult, it's important to learn as a little one.

@LeeLee86 I can't remember what part of WMA you're in, but you don't need to wait until your LOs are old enough for classes. When we were looking at daycare options, we found that the FFX county website has an option to sort liscensed care providers by "languages spoken." DS1's daycare provider is originally from Bolivia and we asked her to primarily speak Spanish to him. At 2.5 he speaks nearly as much Spanish as he does English.

rcbuko · February 2014

I am white and my husband is Dominican. We did one census when we had one kid who I marked as "white hispanic." My husband was marked as "black hispanic." Hispanic is due to ethnic origin and the white or black is due to the color of their skin. My kids aren't as light as I am but they are closer in tone to me than my husband.