I'm not so sure about "the more mixed up the better." My father is Indian--from India, not Native American. And my mother is as WASP-y as a WASP can be. In fact, I have a direct relative that came over on the Mayflower. It's not such an easy thing to be the "product" (for lack of a better word) of two radically different cultures. I think it's difficult for racially mixed parents to raise children because there are so many cultural rubbing points. Maybe my case is a bit extreme since my father lived in India until he was 32, but I think inevitably there will be strain in a racially mixed household, even if it's not discussed out in the open. My parents have done a pretty remarkable job of keeping things together. Hell, they've been married for 32 years. But not without a lot of . . . compromise.

I also think there's something to be said for having some kind of cultural identity. I'm not white, which immediately makes me a bit of an outsider in the good ole USofA--though usually people think I'm Italian, Middle Eastern, Latin American, etc. And I'm, of course, not Indian. I've spent a few years of my life there, and feel a real affinity to the place, but I don't speak my father's South Indian dialect well, and I don't exactly look Indian. It's not so nice feeling slightly out of step everywhere you go.

Having said all that, I wouldn't change my situation for anything. I've grown to see it as a blessing, though it has taken a long time. Many very rascist people use the old "it's hard on the children" excuse to justify there rascist stance on interracial marriages. 99 out of 100 times, a person who says something like that doesn't give a damn about the children. In fact, usually, they're the ones who are most inclined to treat a racially mixed child as an outcast. I don't want to fuel their fire, but there is a kernal of truth in their uniformed opinion.

I'm not challenging Kat's love of and faith in cultural diversity at all. My existence depends on it. I just thought I'd be a grump and stir things up a bit.

tomtom