Mothering across colour lines: decisions and dilemmas of white birth mothers of mixed-race children.

Conceptions of identity in multilingual multicultural societies still seem to be dominated by the perception that human beings are born into social locations and categories of ethnicity that are pre-existing. This fails to acknowledge the current reality for the progeny of interracial marriages, who may find themselves belonging neither to their father's nor to their mother's social location. While a strong emerging literature in hybridity considers the complexities of race and ethnicity for those born into these positions, little literature exists that examines the role of parents, particularly white, dominant culture mothers, who must help their children negotiate a path they have not trod. This paper examines the role of white birth mothers of non-white children in terms of their language, culture, and education decisions, illuminating whether and how they were able to help their children develop respect for and facility with the two languages, two cultures, and two worldviews they live within, while also documenting their struggles to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]