Is That Your Child? -- A New Book About Raising Biracial Children

For all of us monoracial mommies raising biracial or Mixed kids, the question may be familiar. "Is that your child?" I get the question when I'm out with my younger son because he is so much lighter than me and his hair is curly not kinky.

Well, there is a new book out that delves way beyond physical features and addresses the myriad issues faced by monoracial -- both Black and White -- women raising biracial kids in this country from the 1960s to today. The book is called, Is That Your Child?: Mothers Talk About Rearing Biracial Children (Lexington Books). The authors, one White and one Black, are both, you guessed it, mothers of biracial children. Here's what the authors, social scientists Florence Ladd and Marion Kilson say about the book:

"Our new book, Is That Your Child?: Mothers Talk About Rearing Biracial Children, is based on interviews with black and white mothers of biracial children. The book opens with our interview with each other, charts the challenges and rewards of rearing biracial children, and profiles black and white mothers with distinctive biracial parenting experiences. It concludes with suggestions for positive parenting strategies, which are relevant to all varieties of biracial combinations."

As a Black woman raising biracial children, I admit it has taken me a moment to realize that my parenting strategy, as it relates to identity issues, has to be altered a bit because my kids aren't just Black like me. So I will definitely be picking up a copy of this book.

What do you think the big differences are between how White vs. Women of Color parent their biracial children? Check out this article by Kilson and Ladd where they summarize some of the greatest differences they discovered in their research.

Peace!