What I will tell my children

I wrote this about a year ago now.  I was thinking about my children being biracial and growing up in two different worlds and what I should explain to them as they grow older.   This is what I came up with:

What I will tell my children.....

One day, hopefully many years from now, my children will be asked the question:  Are you black or white?  Who do you associate yourself with?  A terrible question I wish from the bottom of my heart they will never have to face,  but one that undeniably will be asked of them.  This is what I hope their answer will be:  “What are you?”  Their reply may be, “I’m white.”  or “I’m black.”  to which I hope my children will respond with a kind smile.  “If that is truly what you believe, then that’s all you ever will be.  For I am neither and I am both.  I am a child of two worlds.  My ancestors owned slaves, my ancestors were slaves.  My ancestors came across the Atlantic in a tiny wooden ship hoping to escape religious persecution.  My ancestors were stolen from their land and sold into slavery.  My ancestors built a country out of nothing with their own two hands.  My ancestors broke their chains and set themselves free nearly a hundred years before the slaves in America.  My ancestors fought and died for their country.  My ancestors fought and died for their freedom.  My ancestors were Haitian.  My ancestors were Americans, both Northern and Southern.  I am a child of both worlds.  I am who I choose to be.  I am me . . . what are you?