Dear Ms. Dickerson,

Thank you so much for this article! As a biracial (black and italian) mommy who married a white daddy, and through some turn of fate ended up with a blond, blue eyed, gorgeous baby boy, I can absolutely relate.

I never expected this, and I guess I wasn't prepared for how it would change everything! Example 1: People stare! Open-mouthed, nudging their partners, and just...gawk. The most common question I get after they come to their senses and realize they're being rude: "Oh! Look at those big blue eyes! IS HE YOURS?". This would include every trip to the grocery store, doctor's office, and coffee shop that he's accompanied me on in his first year of life.

Example 2: It has affected me emotionally. I have always been so PROUD that I had the distinction of coming from two different backgrounds to make my particular shade of brown. While filling out a form to request my son's Social Security Card, it asked me to select an ethnicity for him. And only one. So...what is he? White, because he looks it? Black, because, "technically", he is? And how do I explain this to him once he's curious to know why I'm the only brown person in our little family?

I am thankful that you approached this subject and that I'm not the only Mommy who wants to raise her kid to respect all of the colors of the rainbow that make up his family.

And to the parent who said that Ms. Dickerson was a bad parent: Are you living this situation? My guess would be no, because it's always easier to judge others from the sidelines. So if you're answer is indeed no, shut your piehole, raise your kids how YOU see fit, and don't judge those who are in situations such as hers. She didn't make the decision to have "white" babies; God decides. And he don't like ugly (There's some Ebonics for you. Hater)

Does Anybody Look Like Me? is a really wonderful book that I strongly recommend... it was very, very helpful to me when my middle child and oldest girl began expressing unhappiness with her appearance and a preference to look like the lead actress in My Date with the President's Daughter.

Perhaps it is better that the author shields her children from the reality of Blackness because she seems to have a very limited view of what it means to be Black. Her view is that all Black Americans speak Ebonics, grew econominically depressed (it's a matter of perspective of wealth), and eat Soul food.

It is inevitable that your children will experience the Black experience at some point in their lives because they are part Black. It is less likely (unless they really look White only) that they will experience life as a White person. Under your current views I am afraid that they will see it only as a negative thing.

Boy do I hate that word, it is such an insult it makes me want to throw things around the room. I am in my 40's have a white father and a black mother. I was raised in this country and sorry to inform you all there is no such thing as biracial. The word might exist but it does not live in this world and walk among us.

I love my white father, he is my best friend, but both my father and I know that no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I achieve. I WILL NEVER BE THE WHITE GIRL, this is neither a tragedy nor a comedy, just real life. My father IS insulted that his race refuses to embrace his kid. My father is NOT insulted by my identifying as black, what other choice is there. There is no middle ground on this issue. Our country is tragically divided along these color lines and perhaps always will be. Some fake new word will not change that, lets all just face reality and move on.

Until we can all truly see past color and consider ourselves the human race, therefore defining the word biracial as meaning half human and half non-human, this word is a pathetic distraction to encourage false liberalism.

Not sure if I'm sadder for her children - afterall, she's indirectly teaching them to devalue part of who they are. Or if I'm madder at her for beginning to instill the sense of self-loathing and deprecation that she apparantly has.

Sad... very, very sad. Hell, come on... she knows that in America no matter what she wishes, her children will be "black" to those who view the world through racial lenses.

I'd feel differently about what she wrote if she was advocating a "color" nuetral outlook - but no, she's doing the exact opposite

You are so right! The first thing I thought when Dickerson was writing about her son asking if she was "burned" was "Damn, her son is an idiot."

Your kids don't have to be black on your account - they're black, period. I know that breaks your heart and all, Ms. Dickerson, but you can't screw your way into whiteness. Get over it so we don't have to deal with any more of your self-hating drivel.

as the white mother of a half-East African child, I face

many of the same challenges. The truth is, life for him will not be as it was for either his father or I. I'm lucky to have biracial friends, one of whom is serving as my son's godmother and my confidante in these matters.

My son is also fortunate to have had teachers, classmates and caretakers from a wide variety of backgrounds and a couple of foreign student housemates too. He knows that he is not so much different as one of many unique individuals.

My decision has been to share with him all that I have found beautiful and worthwhile - that includes much of my own upbringing. I hope he will grow up really knowing his father and his mother. But it is up to him to choose his life and not make choices on my account.

Debra, be yourself with your kids. They may not choose to be like you but they will cherish who you are.