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Everyone calls my DD black. She is half black, quarter Asian and quarter white. I think even if she was 1/7th black she would be considered black when all is said and done.

One of my good friends growing up was half black and half white and he always referred to himself as black. That doesn't really add to this discussion, but I always found it interesting to see how that seemed to be his identity.

@mrsjazz: this is true and I think the way extended family identify the kids plays a role in how they see themselves. FIL is constantly telling DD that she is lucky she doesn't need sunscreen like white and Asian people. Aside from the fact that this is a lie, it of course means that she instantly identifies as 'not white or Asian' right? I guess time will tell.

Since I'm a teacher, I actually get so see which box students "check" on standardized tests and I've seen some surprises (especially back in the day before "mixed race" became common and before they separated "Hispanic" from the race category).

As for my LO....I guess technically she is half Asian since she is half south Asian--but I don't think anyone would ever look at her and think, "Asian", especially here in American where so many forms have that stupid "East Indian" box--my husband will absolutely NOT check anything that says "East Indian"--he would put "other".

I anticipate a lot of "What are you" questions for LO as she grows up.

It just took me forever to find this article, but I remember hearing her talk about it somewhere else and it really stuck with me. Rashida Jones & her sister are both mixed race, but they had very different experiences growing up based on the way they look. It's an interesting read (it's a blog post about a Glamour article... sorry, I couldn't find the original article. Ignore the weird headline) http://bossip.com/623483/rashida-jones-sister-kidada-agrees-she-passed-for-white-but-did-the-mean-girls-at-harvard-scare-her-away-from-dating-black-men-forever/

I am half-white/half-black, and I've always self-identified as bi-racial or white. We spent more time growing up with the white half of our family because we lived closer to them. When I'm given the option, I usually check both black and white, but recently I'm seeing more options for bi-racial, which I like. I don't know how my daughter or future children will self-identify.

I'm half white and half Asian but grew up in a very white, smallish Midwestern town. To most people I look more Asian than white, but I don't identify as Asian at all, although I don't consider myself to be a 100% white girl either. I've always just felt like I don't belong in a specific category.

@Mrs. Yoyo: my dad is from Thailand (but the family is Chinese) and didn't stay connected to his culture at all (he's been in the US for more than 40 years at this point), which is why I feel so un-Asian. We have visited Thailand numerous times as a family, but I always feel like just another tourist since I don't speak Thai and really don't know much about the culture at all.

@Anagram: even as an adult I get the "what are you?" questions. I don't find it offensive though, people are just curious!

@mrbee: that has always bothered me about how Obama is portrayed with regard to race. I feel like I would get the same treatment if I were elected president (haha) "she's the first Chinese-American president" when I really don't identify with my Asian roots.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Both have a parent that is Black. I will say that one of my friends looks like she could be Latina but passes as white. Both are kind of militant Black women, too!

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: that's interesting, because I didn't know she was mixed race for like, 2 seasons of Parks & Rec.

My LO is half Asian and half white. Right now, I think she looks very mixed, but most people assume she is full Asian. I think growing up on the west coast (and in Seattle in particular), she'll have lots of friends who are mixed race (particularly half Asian & half white). I hope she'll be able to choose her own identity for herself instead of having one chosen for her.

@Raindrop: wow - that's super insulting!

@lamariniere: thanks for explaining. I was just going to ask why you don't identify with your Chinese side.

@Raindrop: haha yup, that's how I read it.

DD 1 has really big round eyes like DH but DD 2 has big but almond shape eyes like me. I love both!

@Raindrop: haha that was the one feature I wanted my girls to have! The double eyelids. They both do.

There has been a show playing on the national network here in Australia about the interactions between white Australians and Indigenous Australians called first contact. Its basically making 6 while people with bigoted views of Indigenous people live within their (Indigenous) communities for several days to challenge their points of view. In one instance the white people were staying with a family where the grandparents had been part of the stolen generation (when full blooded Indigenous children were taken from their families and rehomed with white people to try and "dilute" their blackness over future generations) - a young girl from the family who was 1/4th or 1/16th Indigenous (I can't remember) was asked if she identifies as white or indigenous and her response was "Aboriginality is like tea - you can add sugar and you can add milk but in the end, its still tea". I thought that was super interesting and thought provoking. Thats my only contribution to this though as my Canadian self and my Scottish/New Zealander husband could not be more white if we tried!

@regberadaisy: Yay! Hehe.

@sunny: What?! We are opposite, everyone in my family has single eye lids ... I have no idea how I ended up with double... Haha. Hm.. were we switched at birth? J/k.

Everyone where I grew up had single eyelids! Hence the teasing. Very interesting!

edit : DH has single eye lids... LO has one single and one double right now... everyone says that his single will turn into a double when he's older though.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: that link makes me so mad. Why would anyone chemically straighten and dye a 6 year old's hair?

@regberadaisy: Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

I don't mind either way... in fact if his eyes stayed one of each that might be cool too! But most family and friends said once they start going double they will become double! Haha.