Parents and Race

I remember it like it was yesterday.

When I was young and we had extended family over for holiday dinners, my dad's Norwegian family sat on one side of the table. My mom's Swedish family sat on the other side.

Sometime during dinner, someone on my dad's side of the family would tell a Swedish joke. Then someone on my mom's side of the family would playfully retaliate with a Norwegian joke. Eventually, my dad would tell a Polish joke and everyone would laugh heartily together.

Although these jokes were good-natured and just for fun, they reveal the kind of racial beliefs my grandparents and parents were raised to follow.

My grandparents grew up in an era where most people were at least slightly prejudice, especially against African Americans. On top of that, my family is from small-town america, where the majority of people are caucasian. My grandparents were good Christians and treated everyone with respect, but socity definitely had an affect on their beliefs about racial issues, which, in turn, affected on my parents' beliefs.

So, although my parents treat everyone with respect an dignity and have taught my sister and me to do the same, they would most likely be shocked if I brought home a man from a different race. In time they would learn to love him as a son, but it would probably take a while.