第3167期:Let growth go beyond skin color

We were at the Union at the university. That's basically a place where people come and relax and you check your emails and your class schedules. 我们是在大学学生会认识的。 那基本上是个大家来放松的地方，还能查收邮件，查看课程表。

And I just happened to see this head of curly hair and I had to get closer to her. 我突然看到了一名卷发靓女，就想走近去看看。

And the closer I got, the better she looked. And I had to introduce myself. So, here we are 20 years later. 离得越近，她看起来就越美。我就开始介绍我自己。到现在我们在一起已经20年了。

I have three kiddos. Isaac is our oldest. Ian is our middle child. Isabella is our youngest. 我们有三个孩子，艾萨克是老大，伊恩是老二，伊莎贝拉是最小的。

She's seven-and-a-half. We homeschool them. We have for the last five-and-a-half years. 伊莎贝拉现在七岁半。我们在家教育他们。过去五年半我们一直如此。

Our children, they do have the best of both worlds in having a Black father and a white mother. In life, they don't have to think about choosing a side. 我们的孩子有黑人父亲和白人母亲，确实能从两种文化中受益良多。在生活中，他们不必考虑要站在哪一边。

I'm originally from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines which is in the eastern Caribbean. 我来自加勒比海东部的圣文森特和格林纳丁斯。

I was evacuated due to a volcano in 1979. I was seven years old at that time, came to United States, lived in New York City for a few years. 我在1979年因火山爆发而被疏散。那时我七岁，来到美国，在纽约市住了几年。

And I also was in the military myself. The only questions that the kids have asked us about race is, "Dad, why is your skin darker than Mom's?" 我也曾在军队服役。孩子们问过的唯一关于种族的问题是：“爸爸，为什么你的皮肤比妈妈的深？”

And, so, I went ahead and took a DNA test and I explained all that to them. Daddy is 50 percent Nigerian. Daddy is 25 percent from Sierra Leone. 然后我就会拿出DNA检测报告，跟他们一一解释。我说，爸爸有50%的尼日利亚血统，25%的塞拉利昂血统。

Daddy is 11 percent Scottish. Daddy has four percent Native American. Daddy has three percent Asian. So, I break it down for them. 11%的苏格兰血统， 4%的印第安人血统，还有3%的亚洲血统。我会跟他们慢慢解释。

As far as what we're teaching them, it's what's appropriate for their age. 至于我们教给他们的内容，都是适合他们年龄的。

We don't put them in that environment where they can be harmed or anyone can share their negativity with them. So, we protect our children. 我们不会把他们置于可能会受到伤害或者被传递负面情绪的环境中。我们会保护我们的孩子。

They're still trying to learn how to do their multiplication tables, you know. So, the issue of slavery and systemic racism, you know, that's not at their level at this point. 他们还在努力学习乘法表。关于奴隶制和结构性种族歧视的问题，前还不在他们的认知层面上。

But we're not clueless that it's there. And in due time, as those discussions come into play, he's like you're old enough, you're mature enough, it's time for you to learn this. 但我们并非对它一无所知。到了适当的时候，随着那些讨论逐步展开，他就会说，你年纪够大了，也足够成熟了，是时候让你了解这件事了。

And it may come up because our child has a question, or it may come up because of something they're exposed to. 可能那时候，他们自己会遇到这些问题， 或者可能暴露在那样的环境当中。

Couple months ago, there was protests right here in our neighborhood. 几个月前，我们社区这里就发生过抗议活动。

They chose South Lincoln neighborhoods, where we live, because they felt that they needed to expose South Lincoln. 他们选择了我们居住的南林肯社区，因为他们觉得有必要揭露南林肯的情况。

So, the kids got to see that first-hand right here at the end of our street and what that looked like and it was a peaceful protest. 孩子们在街道尽头亲眼看到了这一切， 看到这些游行是怎么一回事，那是一场和平抗议。

But then when they see something on the news that's violent and people are literally hurting each other and causing vandalism, that's not a peaceful protest. That's literally riots. 可后来当他们在新闻上看到暴力示威， 人们互相伤害，损害公物，那就不是和平抗议了，这完全是暴动。

And so, I've talked to them about knowing that we live in Nebraska and in some regards their exposure looks very, very different than if we lived on the East or the West Coast. 我已经和他们谈过，要知道我们住在内布拉斯加州，他们接触到的东西和东海岸或西海岸的情况可能完全不一样。