Being a black woman married to a white man and mother to a little white girl, Quiana Glide recounts her journey as a mother, and opens up about the racism she experiences every day. Yet she is a woman, a wife and a mother, like so many others.
Quiana Glide, a young black woman married to a white man, tells a Huffpost column about how she feels about her baby girl Luna, whose skin is white like her daddy's. While Quiana expected to deliver a black or mixed race baby, her baby girl was born white. And for a while, the new mother felt like she didn't belong in her own family.
Between reactions, racist looks and questioning her love for her child, Quiana Glide talks about what it is like to be a black woman, with a white child. In addition to this, you need to know more about it.
The feeling of being a stranger
Quiana says when she was pregnant, she expected to give birth to a colored child. So she had prepared to teach her daughter to fight against white beauty standards, to be self-confident. The mother spent weeks researching the role of mother, and especially that of mother of a black child. She wanted her daughter to feel strong at all costs. “I knew she would have brown skin like me. She would obviously be lighter, but she and I would be dark. Melanin is the strongest gene, at least I thought so”, She explains.
Only when she was born, Luna was born with white skin. It was a shock to Quiana. When she was younger, Quiana felt quite bad about herself. She had a firm belief that she wouldn't fit into society if she wasn't white. It was only upon arriving at university that the young woman embraced its culture. But the birth of his daughter made him plunge back into his torments. “I looked at Luna and saw my husband there. I did not see myself in my child. I felt like a stranger in my own home, a feeling that I had fought all my life ”.
Racist reactions
Unfortunately, some people are still amazed to see a black woman with a white man. When Quiana and her husband are walking down the street with their daughter, there are insistent and completely inappropriate looks. “I'm Luna's mom, and I wanted people to know that she grew up inside me, even though she didn't look like it”, Says the young woman.
According to Quiana, Luna “look at the world with the bright optimism that only a baby is capable of”. The mom says that when she grows up, Luna shouldn't be ashamed. “We will tell her that she is both black and white, that she can be both, and that she shouldn't be ashamed of it”.
Quiana's revelation
One evening, while rummaging through some old boxes, the young mother came across a photo that shocked her completely. It was a photo of her, at her one year old, the same age as Luna. She then ran to her husband and said “It's Luna!”. Mom has finally found her place, and her heart has calmed down. “With a small laugh, he agreed. I hugged Luna and hugged her. I saw it. For the first time, I saw myself in my daughter. Luna's face is my face ”.