Co-worker ponders being terrible about race
Dear Amy: The other day a woman I work with brought her 8-month-old grandson around the office. He was a charming, lovely boy, and she was obviously very proud to show him off.
But there's one thing I'm struggling with. My co-worker, who is white, had mentioned to me that her grandson's mother is black.
Hey, I'm from the Caribbean and we've always had a much more relaxed attitude toward racial mixing. I'm biracial, myself.
The parents of this baby are unmarried and just out of high school, but I don't judge them.
What I'm struggling with is that this child doesn't look biracial at all. He is very dark skinned. Nobody back home would believe for a second that this child has a white parent. But people in America don't seem to be as savvy as we are about these things.
I don't know this woman's son, and am definitely not in any position to suggest a paternity test. But I feel like saying nothing might not be right, either.
I'd hate for this young man to be stuck caring for a child that isn't his, even if I don't know him.
Am I terrible for even thinking this?
-- Worried
Dear Worried: Um, yes -- you're pretty terrible.
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