Do all mixed race people experience racism?!

[Poloplolj]

I’m sad, I’ve been reading awful
stuff online (Reddit in particular) and I’m no fool, I am well aware of of racism but I thought in 2025, we were a lot better and safer as in terms of being mixed, or black and that these communities were now far more equal than they’d ever been but it seems I am
naive.

I’ve seen on SM people with mixed race children getting called Mutts and told they’ve ruined their bloodline etc…. And reports of constant micro aggressions and double racisms from both sides for mixed race people and that only id you are ‘white passing’ you’ll be okay.

even if this is is not true, im so sad my kids will eventually read this shit when they get phones of their own. It’s just so shit the world we live in. So awful. Still so awfully racist.

as a white mum , I try so hard to raiSe my mixed children to be empowered and strong and proud but it feels I’m trying to fight against an impending rifle wave and no l, they aren’t ’white Passing’ - hate that word!

According to my sil, most of the racism he receives is actually from people who are trying to do the right thing but make lots of assumptions about him based on his skin colour.

The most recent was when he attended a dinner party with dd, and the hosts going to great lengths to describe how they had made a huge effort to cater for him as a Muslim, they were giving themselves a verbal pat on the back as they told him. The thing is, he isn’t a Muslim. He is of Asian decent and they had made huge assumptions about him because of this. And even if he had been, they had gotten it wildly wrong anyway.

My DS is 'white passing' but his name reflects his father's heritage. He does get the occasional name calling from other lads at school, teenage boys will pick on whatever obvious characteristic they can see when picking on other boys. He had a teacher tell him he wasn't able to do something or other during RE because he was a Muslim (something to do with the prophet) and didn't believe him when he said he wasn't. He's had teachers completely fail to pronounce his surname despite it being totally phonetic. I don't regret his name by any means but I am sad and regretful that it will draw racist attention throughout his life.

Yep. I am half Chinese but look more Chinese than white IYSWIM.

Have been told to:
-fuck off back to where I came from (East Sussex)
-go back home

And called a mongrel.

My husband and children have experienced racism, both blatant and micro aggressions. I’ve experienced bigotry.

empower your children, absolutely. But be mindful not to force them into becoming a torchbearer for anti racism.

I remember being devastated, DH and our boys went to a united match, the had to walk back to the tram past coach loads of Aston Villa (I think) fans.

they got racist taunts as they walked past. I got really cross with DH for not doing anything, I don’t know what I wanted him to do, nothing would have been safe.

my eldest, 14 at the time, said it was just something they had to put up with if they wanted to go to matches, same with lots of things.

be mindful that your family will probably experience more racism than you as a white mum will ever realise. It’s heartbreaking, and you have to take their lead.

My husband looks Asian but he isn’t . He’s been called the P word quite a few times .

My friend and her sister are half white half Indian. My friend looks predominantly Indian and her sister looks predominantly white. They have grown up experiencing very different lives.

Some people are twats

So many assumptions. My ex is Sri Lankan. Has an English surname but its double barreled so we order food in my surname for takeaways cos its less effort.... we order an Indian he gets given the food. Get to car n realise it's not remotely our food. They'd just given it to him cos was an Asian sounding name

I think the perception that it’s racism specifically against mixed race people is a misnomer. I am mixed but am light skinned and haven’t experienced much at all (though perhaps my bar is high as I’m not young!). In fact some white people have, not realising I’m mixed, said racist stuff around me (not about me)- and then been very thrown when challenged. If I was darker skinned I would have undoubtedly experienced more racism. And I’ve pretty much never experienced racism towards me from black people. That’s very overblown I think. And online is different- but it’s not real life! Try not to focus on it. Half of social media is bots anyway….

Hi all!

I saw the thread and wanted to reach out for experiences. I’m currently pregnant with my first baby and she will be mixed. Any insight on things I may unfortunately experience is appreciated.

My DH is mixed race and gets called racial slurs pretty regularly. It’s usually “P*ki” even though he isn’t Pakistani or Indian.

The only racism I experience is from white people, usually on the left, that deride me for not aligning with illegal immigration.

I’m told as someone of mixed heritage, they would hate me and I must have been radicalised by the white supremacists on my mother’s side. (My mother is British).

They only seem to tolerate us is we are poor, from broken homes and vote for parties that like to be soft of crime and completely immigrant friendly.

I have been racially abused before but one was by a Muslim butcher who called me a black b*tch because he was giving me mince that was visibly brown in colour that indicated it was there for a long time. I’ve also unfortunately been called the N word by an Eastern European but have I ever been abused racially by British born people? NEVER.

Depends on the race I suppose

My husband is Chinese and I’m white British, our son is very clearly a mix (Asian colouring and eye shape, but clearly Caucasian features)

Comments could be deemed racist, but generally well meaning ‘Eurasian babies are the cutest’ ‘his eyes are huge for an Asian’ etc.

Husband gets the standard ‘your English is so good’ even though he’s been here for 15+ years

I get it from Asian in-laws/family friends ‘your skin is really nice for a white person’ teasing about food etc.

The only time we’ve experienced outright racism was during Covid, had a few hateful comments

Overall I tend to just ignore it or even play into it if I know they don’t mean anything by it, tends to make them uncomfortable and realise their faux pas haha

I’d say the genuine cruel racism has been very rare for us thankfully, we are fairly south though in a middle class area, I imagine location makes a big difference!

If anything mixed probably experience thw worst becaue they get it from both sides. You don't belong in either group

That's probably because you're "white passing" so people think your white. My husband is similar, people don't realise and make many comments not realising he's half of the race they're being racist towards

im mixed black / white and the only racism I’ve experienced is from black people (specifically women I will add) my children are mixed (their dad is black) and they haven’t experienced any racism but we do live in a multicultural part of London.

Educate yourself, read the books and make sure you make her feel proud to be Black, she will have a unique identity and be aware of it. I recommend reading The Mixed Race Experience by: Reflections and Revations on Multicultural Identity by Naomi Evans and Natalie Evens. I'd also watch on Netflix - Colin in Black & White. Be aware of it and have conversations about it. I recommend watching the videos of msjoymbakwe on Instagram she talks a lot about this and how's she's doing this with her own young Black daughter but very good content.

The mixed race is experience is real and unique whether that be from interpersonal racism and definitely from structural and institutional racism. However it is different, for example colourism plays a part in how mixed women are seen versus dark skinned Black women (more seen as a 'strong Black women' and aggressive etc) but both face racism. Zendaya has talked about this and how she tries to work with Black women who are darker skinned for more representation. Again lots of beauty products which promote whitening skin because the closer to white the better which has an impact on how people perceive darker Black people.

Some good children's books about women and women of colour which I think can be good (msjoymbakwe also has good books for toddlers that she recommends, these are maybe for a little older):

1. 1. Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky


2. 2. Hidden Figures (Young Readers edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly


3. 3. Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani


4. 4. She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton


5. 5. Rebel Girl Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletes


6. 6. Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by Catherine Thimmes


7. 7. Stories for South Asian Supergirls by Raj Kaur Khair


8. 8. Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present by Jamia Wilson


9. 9. This Book Is Feminist: An Intersectional Primer for Next-Gen Changemakers