I’m so glad that you are keen to get involved in this series!
As you must know – if you are wanting to be interviewed – this series is about looking at the behind the scenes lives of people that have gone beyond race lines and married for love. Gosh, that sounds dramatic doesn’t it? But in South Africa we are still faced with constant racism and prejudice at almost every turn – you just have to look at the media for a couple of days to be blatantly smacked in the face with it.
So let’s share our stories. Tell us about how great it is or how hard it can be. Tell us the up’s and down’s that you’ve had to face as a couple or family. Share your voice and let’s do our bit to stop racism.
What I need from you is to answer the questions most relevant to your situation (feel free to mix and match) and then return them along with about 4 or more high res pictures of your family/coupleness to cindyalfino@gmail.com.
PLEASE try and be as candid as possible, just quickly jotting down the answers is great, but it does make for a bit of a boring read. Try and be expressive, think of funny/troubling/interesting moments that you can share that others will relate to and include them in your interview.
I understand that due to the sensitive topic, you may want to remain anonymous so that you can share the truth of your story or to protect fragile family ties – that’s totally cool.
If you are a “mixed” couple without kids:
- Tell us a little bit about yourself – what you do, what you like to spend your time on etc
- Tell us a little bit about your partner – what they do, what they like to spend time on etc
- How and when did you meet your partner?
- Give us a bit of insight into your racial/cultural backgrounds.
- Where do you live? Does how you are “accepted” change when you visit different places?
- I know babies may not be on the cards right now, but do you have any fears/excitement about having “mixed race” babies in the future?
- What kind of role does race play in your relationship?
- How have your families reacted to your relationship?
- Are there big differences in your relationship that are affected by your heritage/culture?
- What are some of the ignorant and hurtful things that have been said to you and your partner about this issue?
- What do you think we can do to combat this ignorance/stupidity?
- Do you have any advice for those in a mixed race relationship that are facing judgement because of it?
For mixed couples with mixed babies:
- Tell us a little bit about yourself – what you do, what you like to spend your time on etc
- Tell us a little bit about your partner – what they do, what they like to spend time on etc
- How and when did you meet your partner?
- Give us a bit of insight into your racial/cultural backgrounds.
- Where do you live? Does how you are “accepted” change when you visit different places?
- Tell us all about your kids – brag a bit – it’s OK 😉
- How do you and your partner view race in your relationship? What kind of role does it play in your family? Does it even feature?
- Are there big differences in your marriage relationship that are affected by your heritage/culture?
- How have your families reacted to your relationship?
- What kind of experiences have you or your partner had when you have been out with your kids (alone with them or together as a family)?
- What are some of the ignorant and hurtful things that have been said to you and your husband about this issue?
- What do you think we can do to combat this ignorance/stupidity?
- Did you have any fears about parenting mixed race children before you had them? Have any of those fears changed since becoming a Mommy/Daddy to kids with mixed genes?
- Do you have any advice for those new to this experience?
And then if you have adopted kids:
- Tell us a little bit about yourself – what you do, what you like to spend your time on etc
- Tell us a little bit about your partner – what they do, what they like to spend time on etc
- How and when did you meet your partner?
- Give us a bit of insight into your racial/cultural backgrounds.
- Where do you live? Does how you are “accepted” change when you visit different places?
- Tell us all about your kids – brag a bit – it’s OK 😉
- What kind of role does race play in your family dynamic?
- Do you discuss race with your children?
- How have your families reacted to adopting cross-racially?
- What kind of experiences have you had when you have been out with your kids (alone with them or together as a family)?
- What are some of the ignorant and hurtful things that have been said to you and your kids about this issue?
- What do you think we can do to combat this ignorance/stupidity?
- Did you have any fears about parenting children of a different race before you had them? Has this changed now that you are their Mom?
- Do you have any advice for those new to cross-racial adoption?