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Cultural appropriation?

My six year old daughter thinks she is "half black". I have no problem at all with letting her identify with whatever group she feels most comfortable, but I'm concerned with the recent media hype and chaos accusing various celebrities of "cultural appropriation". I'm as white as paper and her dad (my ex-husband) is Pakistani of Indian ancestry. My daughter has Caucasian features, light brown skin, and curly fluffy hair similar in texture to mine but very dark brown. I don't think there are any South Asian kids in her class at school, so when forced into a dichotomy, she feels more closely "black" than "white". Leave it be for now? Or talk with her more about her dad's background? Or something else that I didn't think of?

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Since writing this post Anonymous may have helped people, but has not within the last four (4) days.
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black, feels, daughter, white, brown
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Electric
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last online: 01/25, 20:20
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It's not about "cultural appropriation," but a matter of cultural misidentification.

Your daughter clearly understands she is darker than many kids but she shouldn't be allowed to get the idea she is black (or anything else she is not).
Yes, it would be wise to talk to her about the ethnicity of her father, and the (other) racial background she comes from.
After all she wants to know more about who she is.

1581744157174 1581744149313 miss bot
soco
last online: 03/19, 3:49
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Did she come up with this on her own? Probably not. And classmates will find all sorts of reasons to bully someone. The best thing you can do is tell her the truth. How others see her should not be her truth. They simply don't know her heritage. They are prejudging based on skin color. That is not the truth. Make sure she understands that.
And no matter what, it will not change the level of love she receives from you.

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Anonymous
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(22 hours after post)
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@soco I think she did come up with it on her own.

Her dad rarely visits her and when he does he talks at not to her, so she really doesn't know him. I believe she identifies her dad as black. He does have dark skin and curly dark hair, he could pass for black in the United States if he wanted, but his ancestors are from India.

Ironically, he's quite racist against African Americans. (My daughter wouldn't exist if I had known this from the start.) I definitely wouldn't trust him to talk with her about her ancestry. He thinks he's some sort of genetically superior royalty or something, some upper caste nonsense.

Electric
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Thank you for letting me visit. I wish you all my best with any decesions you so choose.

soco wrote:
And no matter what, it will not change the level of love she receives from you.

- and knowing her true ethnicity will not change the love she bears for you (Anon OP).
Good day.☺

314sftf
Nix
last online: 11/28, 9:31
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I think because there are no other kids around her then her world has become “black and white”. In reality there are many different cultures. She hasn’t found that yet so definitely talk to her about her other culture.

And maybe it would be good to share it with her class in some way?

Yorick
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last online: 02/28, 23:53
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I want to be straight.. even tho now im hard and made into what i am today.

in my younger years.. i liked and enjoyed the popular culture.. i actually believed i was a neo punk raving wigga. As it felt cool at the time, i look back with remorse wondering how did this happen. boy what an idiot.

now i know this...its proven.. influence happens. may it be media .. bad friends.. and all kinds of temptations. keep in mind, speaking from personal experience.. my parents raised me to be best they wanted me to be..a goody boy scout.. surely that leads to rebellion.. anyhow after the Ragnarok phase.. we're a happy family, i see things in their perspective.. and boy sure wish i saw it that way in my younger days.

just keep in mind i wasn't a fool or anything.. just made some bad judgement .. i favored the fun over the other.. even when i knew fun does not pay.

if vanity is influenced.. surely its wrong.. as a parent .. cant say i am one.. but if i was one.. i would do my best to teach my child about who they are and how every doing-living-believing is a choice they make..

Dr. ralph club zps9ornptsl
DocteurRalph
last online: 10/23, 23:49
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I think at six years old she needs to know the truth. You should probably discuss her race with her and maybe teach her something about her Pakistani/Indian heritage.

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