Our family is a multiracial one.  My wife is Black (with at least one Native American ancestor).  I am White and Jewish.  My wife converted to Judaism.  Our 4-year-old son is biracial and Jewish.

I am very passionate about the “Multiracial Community” and the issues confronting multiracial people and people within multiracial families because it is so very personal for me.

One of the primary reasons I created my podcast, Multiracial Family Man (www.multiracialfamilyman.com), was because I wanted to create platform to explore these issues facing the “Multiracial Community,” so that those of us within that community could gain support from knowing we’re not alone and so that those outside the community could better understand the life experiences of those within.

If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it on the following platforms:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/multiracial-family-man/id969793342?mt=2

Libsyn: http://multiracialfamilyman.libsyn.com/

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/multiracial-family-man

During the course of the first 30 episodes of the podcast, I’ve come to realize how many common themes and questions keep recurring for members of the “Multiracial Community,” particularly when it comes to issues of parenting.  Although by no means exhaustive, here’s a list of 10 issues/questions that seem to come up more than others:

1.         What is race?  Is it real or made-up?

2.         How do parents in a multiracial family talk to their kids about race? At what age do you start?  How do you avoid placing value judgments on skin color?  And, how do you resist the temptation to impose your own or societal beliefs upon a kid who doesn’t have preconceived notions?

3.         Where and how do you find multiracial toys and books for your child?   And, where are the healthy pop culture icons or heroes/mentors who they can emulate?

4.         Where do you go for a better understanding of hair and skin care (this one’s usually reserved for the White parent, who often has no clue that the hair of people of color can require a different kind of attention).

5.         How do you address silly or misguided questions from the outside world, like:

a.         What race is your child?

b.         Did you kidnap those kids?

c.         Are you the nanny?

6.         How do you help your child deal with racism or racially-tinged bullying (especially if you’re a parent who hasn’t had first-hand experience with those things)

7.         How do you ensure that your child’s school is providing a sufficiently inviting atmosphere when it comes to cultural diversity and acceptance?  And, what do you do if your child’s school is filled with Archie Bunkers.

8.         What are the unique issues that confront families that have adopted across racial lines.  [Note: this isn’t the experience of my wife and me, but this issues comes up again and again, and it’s an important one in the “Multiracial Community”]

9.         What are the unique issues that confront same-sex multiracial families.  [Note: again, this is not my wife’s and my experience, but it’s a topic that comes up often, and likely will come up even more given recent Supreme Court rulings that have paved the way for gay marriage].

10.       What are the issues faced by multiracial families where neither side is Black or White.  Often, we think of multiracial as “Black-White,” but there are so many variations on a theme (e.g., Hispanic-Asian, Indian-Black, etc, etc).  How are the issues faced by those families unique?  Or the same?

And, finally, a bonus issue:

11. How has being a multiracial family affected your feelings about or understanding of race?

So, that’s my list.

Now, here’s my request – I would love to hear from you.  How do you answer those questions?  What are some questions of your own?  Please send them along.

All the best,

Alex