Kristen Green: Helping My Multiracial Kids Feel At Home In Their Skin

Lately, both girls seem to be developing a more complex vocabulary for skin color — their own, and everyone else's too. Just the other day, Selma informed me that I am a blend of peach and white, while she's a blend of brown and white, explaining that that's why she is "light brown." Amaya, who's 7, currently calls herself "tan," while labeling her sister "brown." Sometimes they want us all to put our arms next to each other poolside to see who is darkest and who is lightest. When the girls talk about this with each other, I typically listen without commenting. As much as our daughters need messages from Jason and me, they also need to consider this on their own.
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Kristen Green is the author of Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, published in June by Harper. The book, a hybrid of memoir and history, describes the decision by white leaders in her Virginia hometown to close public schools rather than desegregate, and explores her own family's role. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years.