Karan Samuels is a 47-year-old divorced mother of eight children, including 12-year-old twins Ari and Ariel. She identifies as white and Cherokee Indian. Her ex-husband, the children's father, is African American.
While Karan sees her family's heritage as rich and diverse, it has caused problems for her children in their small, predominantly white town of Newville, Penn. Karan says her children have been threatened and harassed at school and frequently called racial slurs, and her family has received threats of a cross-burning in their yard.
"Every day, my kids were coming home telling me that kids called them stupid N-word, and harassed them about being biracial," Karan says. "The harassment made them not want to participate in activities that other kids take part in; my kids were afraid. It makes me angry to know that they have had to experience that."
Dissatisfied with the public middle school's response to the harassment, Karan has recently enrolled her children in a nearby private boarding school with a very diverse student population. There, she says, her children are blooming.
Karan says she believes schools and parents have to work together to ensure other kids don't have to experience the harassment her kids have endured. "There has to be less acceptance of the racism, less (acceptance) of the bullying in schools," she says. "And parents have to lead by example."
Even though her children have been targets of racism and prejudice, Karan says she doesn't believe their self-images have been diminished. "In my home, I've always made sure (my children) had multicultural books and toys and talked to them about their heritage so they can be proud of who they are. I think it's that kind of foundation that's helped them to still be proud even when others don't treat them with respect and kindness."
