Mixed race children - any concerns

Mark-gor · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 23

Interesting post, hope I'm not too late to join in.

I consider myself a CBB :lol: Chinese Born Brit. Mother is HK Chinese, father is Anglo/Irish. Father went to HK as a young man to work, met my mother there. I was brought up with a fantastic typical extended Chinese family. Every month we'd get together and occupy 3 tables at a restaurant for yum cha. Me and my Chinese cousins running around, the adults chatting away, dim sum until it came out of our ears.

I grew up watching black and white Cantonese films, ate Chinese food every day (thank god my mum is such a good cook!), went to a Chinese pre-school first, followed by a western primary school. Eventually sent to public school over here.

My life now is predominantly white. I met a Jewish girl, got married, and now we have a son who's about as mixed race as one can be! Irish/English/Chinese/Russian/Polish ancestry! I cook my son and my wife Chinese food at weekends (lucky that my mum taught me well!), take them to Oriental City regularly so I can stock up on ingredients whilst enjoying yum cha, still speak fluent Cantonese over MSN with my parents, and watch Chinese TV over the Net.

I was never confused with my identity. I have always been immensely proud of both my backgrounds and cultures. I speak fluent Cantonese with a better accent than many BBCs. I have received the expected racial abuse over here, but very little in HK.

It doesn't worry me how my son is perceived anywhere. I know enough myself not to get hung up on others' opinions. I enjoy my cultures (including an adopted Jewish culture now) and am secure enough in my own sense of identity not to care how it comes across to others. So... "How are half Chinese kids viewed in the Chinese community?" I can only speak from my own experience. I was always treated on a par with exactly the same respect and expectations of my pure Chinese cousins. This was in HK, of course.

And what about now, in the UK? There was a time 20 years ago when speaking perfect Cantonese would elicit shock and surprise amongst Chinese immigrants in the UK. Now no-one bats an eyelid when this gweilo starts asking for certain dishes in a restaurant, for example. The BBC community has become almost ubiquitous in the UK. And it's a great state of affairs as far as I'm concerned.

assis104s · Joined: 31 Mar 2003 Posts: 145

hi Mark
what a positive experinece you have had! tell me, how do the Chinese and Jewish cultures work together? My mother always said that they wre quite similar, soo I would be interested in know if they compliment each other well or if you have had any difficultues there. Obvously both communities are quite closed, but it sounds like both your sets of parents were fine with your marriage...

Mark-gor · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 23

How do Chinese and Jewish cultures work together? I'm not sure that they do. Sure there are similarities -- a belief in medicinal qualities of chicken soup (lol), importance of the extended as opposed to nuclear family, respect for elders, but these are things that are seen among many other cultures too.

You're right about the communities being closed. My own parents, of course, went through the whole issue of mixed marriage, my Gweilo father only really getting acceptance from our Chinese relatives as he became more successful in his profession (money and career being a defining part of the HK Chinese mindset of success).

Similarly, it took a long time for my wife's parents to accept that their daughter had married 'out of the religion'. They accept me 100% now and this has been helped by my enthusiasm for participating in traditional Jewish activities. This came easily to me since I was already practised in combining/appreciating more than one culture in my life. My philosophy is that if I could enjoy the benefit of two cultures, then I'm well-placed to ensure my children are able to take full advantage of all parts of their ancestry.

Newsfeeds

Latest Posts

	Dimsum Forum Index -> Viewpoints	All times are GMT + 1 Hour Goto page Previous 1, 2
Page 2 of 2