My blackness has always been a big part of my identity, and I feel lost because I won’t be able to share my lived experiences with my child—although I’m happy that he most likely will be able to bypass many challenges because of his light skin.

I don’t feel like I know how to navigate the space where I can transfer to him pride for my Senegalese roots but also teach him about colorism, anti-blackness, and white privilege. My blackness has always been a big part of my identity, and I feel lost because I won’t be able to share my lived experiences with my child—although I’m happy that he most likely will be able to bypass many challenges because of his light skin. But what if my child wants to walk around in a traditional Senegalese boubou, or braid his hair in cornrows? It’s clear that mixed race people cannot appropriate their own culture, but I still find myself wondering if people will mistake him for being a Rachel Dolezal-like abomination.

Ndéla Faye, “Dealing with Everyday Racism as a Black Mom with a White-Passing Son,” Broadly., March 14, 2018. https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/59knmn/everyday-racism-black-mother-white-passing-child.

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