Making Multiculturalism » parents

Family Timelines: A Daughter Reflects on Being Biracial

Rae — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:33:11 +0000

I was born in Vancouver in 1960. My great-grandfather, a Christian missionary, came here from China to minister to the Chinese that were building the CN railway. When my father (Chinese) fell in love with my mother (Dutch-Irish) and wanted to marry her, his family opposed it. My mother’s family was not keen on the idea either — they hesitantly gave their approval but that was only because she was pregnant. They never did marry because interracial marriages, in those days, were just not acceptable. Both of my parents have terrible memories of how they were treated in those days.

Growing up bi-racial in Vancouver was, for the most part, a pleasant experience for me. However, as a result of a handful of extremely racist experiences between fourth and eighth grade, a shadow of darkness used to loom over my happy memories. Conversely, my bi-racial half brother and sister who are 18 and 20 years younger than I am, have never experienced racist attitudes directed towards them.

When I compare my experiences to theirs, I can really see how much times have changed, especially towards Chinese. Society has figured out that Chinese people are capable of more than just working in Chinese restaurants and laundrymats.

Multiculturalism has come a long way in the last 40 years; however, that is not to say that racism has been eradicated. Nonetheless, given the progress we’ve made, I am confident that we can and will achieve a truly tolerant, accepting, multicultural society.

- Lori-Ann in BC

Research Blog 5: From Children to Parents

Rae — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:07:42 +0000

Parents are writing about the cultural navigation they see happening in their children’s lives and finding some wisdom in what kids do – and don’t see. Check out the contributions from:

A Snapshot of Three Generations

Rae — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 02:58:26 +0000

My dad was born and raised in Jamaica. He came to Vancouver as a student and there he met my mom, a girl from Oakville, Ontario whose parents had emigrated from Scotland and who was also a student. One thing led to another and, as they completed their studies they planned their wedding. I still cannot fathom that mom’s parents refused to attend her wedding because she was marrying this dark skinned guy.

Fast forward a few years and I’m eight years old. My grandmother has died a number of years previously; my grandfather is living on his own back in Oakville. My mom makes a trip back there to visit and ends up bringing him home to Vancouver to live with us, where he was part of the family for the next thirteen years until he died. It wasn’t my first exposure to the values I grew up with, but it is the example that has stuck with me.

To this day, I will be walking down the street and people will stop me and say: “You’re a Wong, aren’t you?” Inevitably I will discover that we attended elementary school together or grew up in the same neighbourhood and they remember me from that time. As one of the three dark kids – the other two being my brothers – in my school, in my church, in my neighbourhood, we stood out from the crowd. I’d like to think it was because my parents tended to dress us a triplets, but I know it was the colour of our skin. And we grew up in Surrey. Try walking down any street in Surrey today – it might be easier to count the number of white faces you see rather than the brown ones.

Now I view multiculturalism through the lens of my children. Out of the 25 kids in my daughter’s grade one class you will find perhaps twenty different ethnicities. More importantly, those differences are celebrated. Where else would you find her classmate Sahej dressed as Abraham Lincoln for Historical Halloween, or Ginger dressed as Aretha Franklin? To them, colour is something you paint with, not the tone of someone’s skin. We should all be so lucky to see the world that way.

- Geoffrey in Victoria