Wednesday, February 25, 2015

"Did You Adopt Her?" and Other Mildly Racist Statements About Interracial Babies



If you have interracial babies, you'll understand the gaggle of questions and comments from strangers that always seem a tad...racist. Things like:

Did you adopt him/her?
What a cute Oreo baby!
S/he's so pretty for a mixed baby!
[insert race here] babies always make the most beautiful children! Lucky you! 

Okay, fuck you? What does my daughter's race have anything to do with who she is as a person? can't you just say she's pretty and move along? I'm a little over having to explain that my half-Japanese daughter is actually mine. Let me tell you a couple stories involving these kinds of people - both, coincidentally, are at different Wal-Mart locations.


 I'm standing in line, Beansprout in tow. This older lady is behind us in line with a large cart and 4 small items (already possibly a little stupid). She starts making random comments about babies to me that I really don't care about because I'm focusing on Beansprout pulling my hair. She, of course, proceeds to ask me if she's Asian; I say that she is. Of course, this is followed by, "Did you adopt her?"

I'm not all-too pleased about hearing things like this. Does she think it's physically impossible for Asian men to procreate with any other race? Does she think Asians are some sort of ninja society full of incest and kung fu? She then explains that she asked because lots of people adopt Asian babies from places like China, Cambodia, etc. This wouldn't have bothered me, except I don't look nearly old enough to adopt a baby. I'm a twenty-two year-old who has to constantly prove she's not fifteen. Like I said, possibly a little stupid.


Then, the slightly funnier story. Beansprout on my hip, just grabbing a couple things. The cashier asks me if she's "mine"; to which I reply, "Nah, the Chinese will sell anything on Amazon."
This lady looks horrified by my obvious joke. It doesn't register until I start laughing.



So, yeah. please stop assuming kids who don't match the race of one of the parents that the child is adopted. Please. Stop. Asking.

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