It All Started at a Post Office: Interracial Love and Its Complexities

Abstract

This commentary is about racial and cultural identity, belonging, and empathy. A young White Czech woman met an Asian Indian man while working in a post office in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1960’s during Communist times. The immigrant, interracial couple’s narrative is told from their biracial eldest daughter’s perspective and her experiences growing up in a multiracial, multicultural family in Canada. This commentary illustrates why one cannot understate the importance of understanding the unique experiences of interracial couples, and their biracial children, when looking to address their needs in education, counseling, and other community support. Furthermore, immigrant and first-generation experiences add a layer of complexity in terms of available support when discrimination and racism occur. Characteristics such as strength and resiliency may evolve, or the opposite, if the awareness, understanding, and supports are not in place. As a career speech-language pathologist with a passion for advocacy, the author utilizes a multisensory approach to illuminate the life experiences of an interracial, immigrant family with biracial children. The author’s goal is to help, at the very least, one person, one family, a researcher, or an organization gain perspective and further motivate study of the interracial, immigrant, multicultural family experiences, with their struggles and triumphs.

Highlights

A White Czech woman met an Asian Indian man while working in a post office in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1960’s during Communist times.

An immigrant, interracial couple’s story told from eldest daughter’s perspective, a career speech-language pathologist, including her experiences growing up biracial in a multiracial, multicultural family in Canada.

Illustrates the importance of understanding the unique experiences of interracial couples and their biracial children to assist professionals in providing empathetic support to increase sense of belonging.

Provides practical suggestions and insights into this understudied group.