What are you? Where are you from? No, Where are you from, from? No no, Where are your parents from? What are they? Are they yours? Are you the nanny? Hablas Espanol? Did you adopt those twins? Are they natural twins? Are you guys together? How did you guys meet? Can I touch their hair? How are they such a perfect mix?
::insert the heaviest sigh ever here::
Look. I’m 5’4, petite, and bliggedy Black with wild blue hair. Hubs is 6’4 and translucent with a buzz cut and footballplayer bod. Our children are tan blissdrops of rowdy, curly haired perfection. We blend Jamaican, Southern African American and Irish cultures in a way that works perfectly. We tend to be a bit of a spectacle when we go certain places down here in South Florida. We get stares. We get oddball looks. We get questions.
Interracial relationships and biracial children aren’t abnormal. Questions like “what are you?” and the other stupidity mentioned above…shouldn’t be a thing. It is not okay to question someone’s existence and background to satisfy your personal curiosities.
Sadly it is a thing. Sadly we are in this weird racial reality where White is the norm, everything else is an “other,” and “race-mixing” is an actual term that people use in real life… and an oddity.
In case you didn’t get the memo…Despite only being legal for like 5 minutes… Interracial and Multicultural families are as normal as single race and single culture families. We are to be respected like any other union, and not treated like a circus act.
Luckily more brands are bringing multiculti families to TV commercials so more folks can get the picture. (Remember that whole Cheerios fiasco?) The more brands that expose closed minds to multihued families, the more normalizing it is. That will help my family get down the block without a barage of foolish questions from lookyloos.
It’s even more normalizing, when TV shows do it. People fall in love with the characters and see that there is no difference in an Irish-Jamaican marriage and an Irish-Irish marriage. …except spicier food, maybe. 🙂
I’m really happy to see shows like ABC’s new Alex, Inc going multi culti too! American / Indian Marriage, anyone?! Yas!!
Thanks for the pic, ABC
At the ABC TV Event we went to last month, I got to interview the cast and creator of the show. That was a fun day. It was awesome to meet Zach Braff and Tiya Sicar (Who are the mom and dad on Alex, Inc.) as well as Matt Tarses, the writer and producer, and hear how they really put the multicultural angle in the forefront, versus just having a random multicolored family without exploring it further. ::high five you guys!::
We got to watch a few screener episodes and the whole room was cracking up. It’s a clean, fun and funny FAMILY show. You can easily watch this with your kids from elementary to teen without any awkward moments. Wait til you see the 3rd episode of the show. You’re going to love it!
Check out the trailer for the show here:
Alex, Inc. airs TONIGHT at 8:30 on ABC!! Let’s live tweet during it!! Follow me at @daniellefaust (yea i know, real creative handle)
Here’s some additional info on the show:
Based on the podcast StartUp, Alex Schuman (Zach Braff, “Scrubs”) is a brilliant radio journalist, husband and father of two who is about to do something crazy – quit his job and start his own company. He quickly discovers it’s going to be a lot harder than he thought. Zach Braff stars, directs and is executive producer with Matt Tarses (“Scrubs”) and Davis Entertainment (“Dr. Ken,” “Blacklist”). Matt Tarses is writer and executive producer. Zach Braff is director and executive producer.
ALEX, INC (series premiere Wednesday, March 28 at 8:30|7:30c)
https://www.facebook.com/AlexIncABC/
https://twitter.com/AlexIncABC (#AlexInc)
https://www.instagram.com/alexinc_abc/
Trailer: https://youtu.be/X58fcXjR-pg
ZACH BRAFF (Executive Producer, and “Alex Schuman” on “Alex, Inc.”; he also directed the pilot)
https://www.instagram.com/zachbraff/
https://www.facebook.com/ZachBraff/
TIYA SIRCAR (“Rooni Schuman” on “Alex, Inc.”)
https://twitter.com/tiyasircar
https://www.instagram.com/tiyabird/
OMGOSH! How did I not hear or see anything about this show until now?
I love Zach, but also, I LOVE Tiya Sicar. She’s the ‘good Eleanor’ on The Good Place!!
This sounds like a great premise, and awesome that she has a starring role.
Love your post! 🙂 I’m mixed race so it’s always been normal to me. I’m in the UK and haven’t heard of this show but I’ll look out for it.
Zania