Teaching Biracial Kids Self Acceptance

by Jessica
(South Dakota)

I have a daughter who is biracial, I am white and my husband is from Eritrea (eastern Africa). We live in a small town that is not very diverse, although we have many friends that are from various cultures so our daughter is exposed to a variety of people. She is fairly light skinned and does not want to be "different" from her friends in her school who are white.

Children in her school will sometimes say she is "brown" and although I don't think they are trying to be mean, she is bothered by it because she doesn't want to be different than them. I try to teach her that everyone is different and has unique characteristics and talents and that's what makes them special. How do I help my daughter be proud of herself and of being biracial?