Every time we look at the news lately, a horrific display of hatred makes the headlines. Whatever your personal political stance in this election season may be, we all know that Brooklyn is the premier cultural melting pot of our country. Especially with children, you cannot escape diversity in our glorious borough. In this piece, writer and entrepreneur Nia Dara examines her own feelings on mixed-race families, and where they stand in our current American landscape.
In the midst of writing this article, which originally started out as a travel piece about discovering lesser-known American landmarks called “Road Tripping With a Multi-Racial Family in America,” I quickly became diverted with the growing racial tension at a national level (being fueled further by a presidential candidate who uses racial bigotry to make headlines). I wondered: where does my family stand on race in Brooklyn?
For as long as I can remember, I have delightfully referred to Brooklyn’s diverse neighborhoods as an “interracial incubator,” teaming with mixed-race and mixed-cultured families. Where “gentrification” is a word used so often, most are numb to its sound and ill-informed of its definition. A community that is growing together, side-by-side and yet seemingly all alone (by some standards) as people of all colors continue to live amongst each other, despite race. What do we get from all of this? A beautiful tapestry of mixed-race, multi-cultural children who play with one another unaffected by differences.
My partner and I often discuss the padding we feel here in Brooklyn from what seems to be national upheaval everywhere else. Even while the peaceful protests are happening in the streets of Manhattan, on any typical day in our neighborhood you will find the sun-soaked trees peeking over brownstones and sidewalks flooded with strollers- seemingly unaffected. Our own particular family not only has racial diversity, but religious too as we are a family of Jews, Christians, Catholics, and Buddhists. We welcome differences, honoring what is sometimes considered “weird” to be beautiful. However, each morning as we watch the news, the world outside seems to portray a different tone- one of violence and intolerance. I never thought I would have to teach my little girls at such a young age about these indifferences and inequalities. How will I continue to enlighten my daughters and retain their youthful optimism and rose-colored glasses of equality and fairness?
Don’t get me wrong- as a woman of color (a familiar New York mix of African American, Dominican, and Puerto Rican descent) I am all too accustomed to racial injustice on one level or another. I’ve had my fair share of it over the years, but have always felt it was manageable on a micro level. I have found a life that is often on the fringes of social norms, a chosen path in which I’m okay avoiding prejudiced mindsets. My hope for a more tolerant society has always been optimistic and has been on the rise with our first black president, same-sex marriages, and transgender communities becoming more a part of the dialog of popular culture. Have I somehow missed the writing on the wall? I look deep inside of myself when I think about the future my girls will have to face when it comes to the tolerance of others. How will they handle social injustice as adults? What check box will society have in place for them? How will my daughters’ lives be shaped as they grow up identifying racially with their mother as a “black woman,” when they are fair skinned, “good haired,” and the absoluteness of their ethnicities are blurred between racial and spiritual divides?
I must admit that, for all its imperfections, I feel fortunate to raise them in our Brooklyn community that will support their uniqueness. I look to educate them about the societal views abroad on race within a context that supports their growth in which they might not experience in the confines of their daily lives. I want them to understand that the color of their skin doesn’t make them who they are but who they are at times will be determined in an instant by others who only see them on the surface. So where do I go from here? Where do we go from here? Our littlest children are too small to face protest rallies at the front lines and too young to understand the magnitude of it all. As we take this summer holiday road trip through our beautiful nation, what will the lessons be along the way? How do we make sense of the civil unrest? How do we inspire our next generation with the dialogue of this moment in our country’s history?
I have found tremendous beauty in the differences of people, and I have always sought a utopian view of total acceptance. I will not allow my children to be deprived of their dreams, or of their interracial pride because of the color of their skin. I will always teach them to honor themselves, their perceived weirdness, and the weirdness of others. More than ever, each of us needs to take a stand that unites our little ones and keeps the dialogue of acceptance and tolerance open and peaceful for all. Teaching them the beauty in the differences of people and the greatness that is America: a nation built by immigrants and on the dreams of equality. Cities continue to be the leaders in interracial communities and families, and thankfully New York (and Brooklyn) is leading the way. Perhaps the most important sites to be seen while road tripping this summer will be to our major cities to understand how majestic a multicultural nation can be. That’s a lesson that can be shared again and again from state to state, one interstate highway at a time. History lessons can be found in the books, but making history is action not yet written in the past.
Here are some informative links to accompany this article:
New York is More Diverse than Los Angeles thanks to Brooklyn Neighborhood
Melting Pot Cities and Suburbs: Racial and Ethnic Change in Metro America in the 2000s
Nia Dara is motivational mama-prenuer, mother of two mixed-race beauties, with a background in cosmetology and fashion modeling. Creative spirit. Lover of adventure and always up for a good laugh.