Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. This means you have just a few short hours to run out to an all-night drug store and buy the card you forgot to buy and to purchase your Valentine a really cool thermometer or spiral notebook or bottle of multivitamins as a really great Valentine’s gift.
For some, Valentine’s Day is a cause of rejoicing. For others it’s a day of sadness. Still others love Valentine’s Day because it means they’re going to get drunk and have sex.
For us this year, it’s just Saturday.
But, actually, not just. There’s more.
Earlier this week, an article I wrote about race and racism was posted on the Internet (on Yahoo Parenting). If you want to read the article, you can see it here: The Absence of Color in Frozen.
The article engendered a great many responses, many which called me stupid in one form or another. And, a significant number were impliedly or expressly racist, including the one that said: “no self-respecting White man would marry a Black woman.”
Honestly, I wasn’t so much annoyed by the responses, as I was taken by the fact that the comments proved one of the points I was making in my article — i.e., that racism still is a very real issue that we need to grapple with honestly and openly.
So, how does all this relate to Valentine’s Day? Well, I’ll tell you. See, my wife is Black, I’m White, and my son is Biracial. And, I love them both very much, and they love me. Our love for each other has nothing to do with race, but I mention it only to say this — I didn’t think I could my wife and son more than I already do, but seeing and reading people’s racist comments makes me love my family even more if for no other reason than I want the racists to lose and want love to win.
So, Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife. Happy Valentine’s Day to my son. Happy Valentine’s Day to all, including all the racists out there. I love you too.
4 Comments on “Multiracial Family Valentine’s Day”
As a black woman I say it all the time that “racism is alive and kicking” and some of my white friends think I’m embellishing it. When you say it I hope it carries more weight. I applaud what you are doing.
Pat: Thanks for writing. Regrettably, racism is alive and kicking. We all just need to keep kicking back till it stops. All the best to you.
Comment Yes, the unfortunate truth is that racism is alive in the hearts of too many people. I live in the South and over the summer of last year I was called the N-word to my face for the first time in 34 years. I was shocked, angered, and saddened. The slur came from a white guy who sounded uneducated and looked unkempt. I have the satisfaction of knowing that if I am that word, I am a well-educated (3 college degrees) employed, mother of an awesome 16 year old honor student. I am adding beauty to the world, not sucking it out with racial hatred. I leave him to his sad, miserable life….
That is so terrible. Sorry for you, but good for you for moving past that incident!
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