I am struggling with DD's pride in her heritage when she only identifies with white children

[Katymac]

DD is mixed race (DH is Jamaican & I am White)

Every single World Book Day, fancy dress, dress like a character she chooses a very 'white' middle class character

She has been bullied about being mixed race & I am trying (& have been for some time) to instill some pride in 'who' she is

The latest is teh Guides Christmas party in January () they have to come dressed as a character in a book

So far we have Roberta from The Railway Children, Titty or Nancy from Swallow & Amazons, Lucy from The L, W & W, or Heidi

I will let her choose one of those but I am wracking my brain to find a mixed race character she could be

Any suggestions?

I read post from Waiting2exhale with interest and disbelief. DS's are mixed. Some say they look white. Others can identify mixed features. What would you suggest? Still that they were taught to identify with their Black heritage more than their white? Or because their colour is lighter, but their features more Caribbean that they should be taught to identify more with their White heritage?

DH is British born- both parents mixed Trinidadians (dad=Chinese+Carib-Indian, mum=Afro-Caribbean+Carib-Indian). DH is impossible to 'classify' from looks. People have said he looks - Nepalese, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Malaysian, Mediterranean and even White. Just interested as to what you would have suggested for him?

Personally, I want my children to learn their entire heritage.

In response to the original post. I think your child has responded to the challenge by choosing strong characters that perhaps she identifies with in regards to personality. I would just try to ensure that she is exposed to literature from her Caribbean heritage as well as other World literature.

Im' coming in on this a bit late but what an interesting discussion. My first thought was Grace as well, but then I got to thinking... Unless your daughter is saying that she wants to go dressed as those people because they're white, and she wishes she was white, does it matter that she is identifying with white, middle-class characters? Perhaps it's actually a good thing, because she's not thinking that because she's not white she can't be those people (and they're all strong girls you'd aspire to be). Does that make sense? It's like the granny in Grace says - just because you're black doesn't mean you can't be someone like Roberta. And yes, we know they're white and middle class, but as far as I know E. Nesbit never mentions Roberta's colour, so she could be black or mixed-race in your daughter's head, couldn't she?

For what it's worth, I always wanted to be Titty and Lucy as well, and I'm Jewish with crazy curly hair, and had never been near a prep school!