A Black Man Parenting A White Daughter The MLK Way
Oliver Campbell, a black guy parenting a daughter born white, has a great piece at Medium, "Raising A White Child As A Black Parent In An Age of White Guilt Hysteria and Self-Flagellation." An excerpt:

Some of the most difficult moments I've had in raising this now young woman were the ones where I would teach her about historical moments where race issues were front and center. Times like when I taught her about the Los Angeles Riots in the 90's, explained the racial tension that occurred in the United States during the Vietnam War, or why people fell into a panic during the aftermath of 9/11 before her birth. They weren't negative moments, but they were opportunities when I was able to better illustrate how people can be when fear takes hold and ignorance runs rampant. Even with all of that history, the one thing that I utterly refuse to do is tell her that she should hate herself for being born as something that she didn't ask to be:

Being born white.

It seems like every other day, I turn around and see another article or a video where an utterly self-hating pundit with untold amounts of white guilt insists that 'white people' are the cause of all the world's ills. Even now, there are people writing articles and opinion pieces that spend their time cramming self-hatred down their children's throats. It has to stop. You're not solving the problem; You're perpetuating it.

I suppose I have to posit the question; Why would you tell your child that they are the cause of everything wrong in the world? That is not parenting from a place of love and affection; that is parenting from a place of hatred and division.

His daughter is an individual and he's raising her that way. As an individual. Not an individual who is white or not black or not "of color" in some other way.

This is right on.

This has turned out well, this kind of parenting, this kind of thinking:

We've taught her that the context of what a person says carries significant weight, and that the actions of a person matter more than anything else. You know, that whole "not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character" thing that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr talked about.

As a 14-year-old today, I can see the effectiveness of all that I've taught her. When she introduces my wife and I to people, she does so with pride. When she hears that people get weirded out about the idea of a mixed-race marriage, she shakes her head out of frustration with the idea that people would care about the color of people in a marriage that doesn't involve them in the first place.

She has friends from every race and sex, and always wants to make sure people feel included. When I ask her why she has chosen a particular person to be her friend, she says "Because they're a good person with good character." What more could a parent ask for? Not much. We didn't accomplish this by pushing self-hatred into her mind. We achieved it by starting with the most important common trait we have: We're all human.

via @coldxman