Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive. ~Anäis
Many of you already know me, but for those who don't, I want to introduce myself and give you a bit of background about why I'm here. My name is Jessica, and I'm a single mom. I don't typically identify myself this way - usually, I am just Jessica, a girl who works as an office manager, and likes to stay busy in my free time. But I am here, online, because I am the mom of a very wonderful, very active, 3-year old. And I want to address a very important subject and discuss it with other parents.
I'm a white girl. My daughter's father is from Haiti. So, my daughter is a beautiful combination of ethnic backgrounds - German, Italian, Scottish, Irish, French and Haitian. She has great, (soft) curly hair, big brown eyes, a perfect smile, and perma-tan. She is smart and coordinated, and has a huge vocabulary and excellent motor-skills for such a little girl.
I was living near NYC when I got pregnant, but shortly after that I moved to Vermont to be closer to my immediate family. So my daughter and I are now living in an area without much racial diversity. (When her father visited here once, he joked about seeing another black man in the grocery store. He said he should have gone over to say hi and make a friend, because there are so few people here of any color other than white.) I have many international friends, and love learning about other cultures. I have always considered myself to be color blind, and very accepting of other races. I love to travel and have a long list of places to visit on my Bucket List. I have made friends with great people from the countries of Brazil, Dubai, New Zealand, South Africa, England, Hungary, Belarus, the Philippines, Columbia, Lebanon, India, as well as people of many different ethnic backgrounds who live here in the United States. I love the world! I want to share that love of people and cultures with my daughter.
My purpose in starting this blog is to create a deeper awareness in each of us regarding racial prejudice and our friendships. I want to ask, what we are teaching our children in this area? What are we doing as parents to give our children a healthy, open understanding of different cultures? I want to ask questions and find answers, not just for my own benefit, but for my daughter's sake, too. I’m glad you are here to join me!
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