US actor Taye Diggs, 44, has caused anger after stating that he does not want his mixed-race son to be referred to or identify only as a black man. While promoting his new book Mixed Me, Diggs explained that he did not want his child's white heritage and mother to be dismissed.
Diggs shared his hopes for his son's future and said that both of Walker's heritages should be acknowledged."You risk disrespecting that one half of who you are, and that's my fear. I don't want my son to be in a situation where he calls himself black and everyone thinks he has a black mum and a black dad, and then they see a white mother, they wonder: "Oh, what's going on?". Diggs also said he would call President Barack Obama the first "mixed" president, rather than the first "black" president."
"As African-Americans we were so quick to say okay he's black he's black, and then there were the white people who were afraid to say he was biracial because who knows," Diggs said. "Everybody refers to him as the first black president, I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that it's interesting. It would be great if it didn't matter and that people could call him mixed. We're still choosing to make that decision, and that's when I think you get into some dangerous waters."
Mixed Me, a children's book, was inspired by the African-American actor's six-year-old son Walker whose mother is Let It Go singer Idina Menzel, who Diggs divorced in December 2014. Mixed Me is a follow-up to Digg's first children's book Chocolate Me, which details his younger years growing up in Rochester, New York and the racial discrimination he experienced for being African-American.
"The first book I wrote, Chocolate Me, was based on my experiences growing up a little chocolate boy in a predominantly white neighbourhood, and how I would get made fun of, and how through my mother and father and my own recognition, I was able to develop the power of self love." Diggs said. "Mixed Me is kind of along similar lines for my son, even though in this day and age he's going to have less of an issue being mixed than I did. It's a book of self love and self appreciation and knowing that you are special, regardless of what people will say about you because people will always say stuff".
