10 Ways White Parents Can Support Their Biracial or Multiracial Kid

Samantha Stein
6 min readJul 31, 2022
Catherine Anderson and her sons (photo by C. Anderson, printed with her permission)

This post was co-authored by Samantha Stein, PsyD, with guest writer Catherine Anderson, an educational facilitator working with individuals, groups, schools, and organizations interested in addressing equity and culturally responsive and sustainable practices. She is also a veteran public school educator and parent of Black and mixed race children in Providence, Rhode Island.

The United States is rapidly becoming a more ethnically and racially diverse country, and the fastest growing group is those who identify with two or more races. Between 2010 and 2020, this group saw a 36 percent increase, which is far greater than any other group.

This means there are a growing number of parents who are raising children who do not share their children’s lived experience of race and ethnicity. This is especially true for White parents who are/will be raising children who are bi- or multiracial and have had no experience of racism. This article can serve as a starter guide for those White parents and caregivers taking on the challenging job of parenting along with the additional challenge of raising kids who will have a very different lived experience than themselves. What follows are 10 ways you can support your bi- or mutiracial child.

  1. Throw away fantasy phrases and beliefs such as “color…

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Samantha Stein

I’m a writer, photographer, and psychologist who (monthly) explores self, relationships, and mental health in an ever-changing world.