Darryl Fears’ article is a set-up. There are no stories of loving, accepting white relatives to balance the negative stories. It’s another “black” attempt to scare people into accepting the hypodescent myth. The fact is that it’s becoming increasingly common to find that the “white” person you know has mulatto relatives or “black” in-laws and no big deal is made of it.
For Biracial Children, a Look at Attitudes: News of Thurmond Paternity Spurs Talk
by Darryl Fears
The Washington Post
Sunday, December 21, 2003; Page A12
The woman on television was talking about her life as the mixed-race daughter of a white man who was once America’s foremost segregationist. In her living room in North Little Rock, Rita Frazier stared at the set in a riveted silence.
“I wonder if Daddy is watching this,” she recalled thinking.
It was a long shot, she said, but maybe the confirmation last week from Essie Mae Washington-Williams that former senator Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) had reached out to her would persuade Frazier’s own father, who is white, to say his first hello to his granddaughter, Promise Victoria Leeper, who is biracial and 16.
“My parents haven’t accepted her yet — 16 years,” said Frazier, 40, who conceived Promise with a black man. “We went to a family funeral once, and it was very awkward. . . . They stopped telling me when someone in my family died because I would bring Promise. It was the only way I thought she could meet some of her family members.”
It MAY be more common to find that “white” families are actually “multiracial” families. However, there are some who still face the same issues that were faced 70 years ago. I feel we have to be there for them also and let them know they are not alone.