This is meant to be a light-hearted thread, although my son does find the subject upsetting.

My son is mixed race - white and black. He looks racially indeterminate, though, and apparently some people find this really uncomfortable, so they'll ask him "What are you?" or "Where are you from?" Then when he says he's black and white or he's from Kansas, some people actually accuse him of lying! Once a cop asked him where he was born. When he told him, the cop said, "You weren't born in Topeka!"

My son really does find this painful. Personally I think he's a walking, talking challenge to peoples' preconceptions and stereotypes. If this were happening to me, I'd probably find it amusing and want to play with people a little bit.

So, I was thinking of ways of deflecting the question. I suggested he pick little-known countries at random and never use the same country twice. Like Lithuania or Albania.

Then I suggested he create mystery by just saying, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." If they keep asking, he could just shake his head and say, "No one ever believes me."

I was watching a Raffi video this morning. I noticed that Raffi resembles my son, so I looked him up on wikipedia. Apparently he was born in Cairo, Egypt to Armenian parents and raised in Canada. So, I suggested my son claim that pedigree.

Thoughts? Other suggestions? Anyone else have this problem? (If they do, I'm not trying to minimize it by finding joking ways of handling it. My son truly does find it upsetting. I just don't think you should let the boors get you down. And it's not worth it IMO to be aggressive and tell people to mind their own business.)