235: It’s Not Race, It’s Racism: Raising Multi-Ethnic Families, with Naomi Raquel Enright

Dear White Women

One of the things that we find most rewarding about our own journeys in anti-racism, racial justice, and social justice is when we come across practitioners who come from a similar framework that we do (heart-centered, humanity first, believe people when they tell you their stories, and all of those things) but also challenge us to think more broadly, or more deeply, about these topics in powerful ways. Our guest today does all of that and more.

Naomi Raquel Enright is a DEI practitioner, Ecuadorian and Jewish, a mother, sister, daughter, and so many more things - and all of these identities influence how she views the world, especially when she thinks about raising her son. It was an honor to be able to talk about raising multiethnic children with her today, especially with her clear focus on the systems that keep us trapped in a narrative about race that helps zero people in the end. We hope that you sit with what she says, and think about how you frame your understanding of families, systems, and individuals as a result.

What to listen for:

• How being raised as the daughter of an Ecuadorian mother and white father shaped Naomi’s perspectives in raising her son

• What to think about when assuming things about other families – in particular, whether someone is or isn’t a certain child’s mother – and what that felt like to be on the receiving end of

• The reasoning behind some new-to-us phrasing – “presumed to be white” instead of “white-presenting” or “passing for white” and “multi-ethnic” instead of “multiracial/biracial”

• Some thoughts on raising children the world presumes to be white, and what white families can do better

About Naomi:

Naomi Raquel Enright is a writer, educator, and consultant based in Brooklyn, NY. She is also a National SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Facilitator and a New York Appleseed board member. Raised in New York City, she was born in La Paz, Bolivia to an Ecuadorian mother and a Jewish-American father, and is a native speaker of English and Spanish. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Kenyon College and studied at the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain. She writes about racism and identity, loss, and parenting. Her essays have appeared in several publications including Hold The Line Magazine, Family Story, Role Reboot, Streetlight Magazine, among others, and in the anthologies, The Beiging of America (2017), Sharing Gratitude (2019) and Streetlight Magazine 2021 (2022). She has been interviewed on a number of podcasts, including Global Citizenship & Equity, Inclusion School, War Stories from the Womb, The Mixed Creator, and Project 25. Her essay The Hidden Curriculum, received an Honorable Mention in Streetlight Magazine’s 2021 Essay/Memoir Contest. Her book, Strength of Soul (2Leaf Press; University of Chicago Press), was published in April 2019.

Read Naomi’s written work:

• Strength of Soul

• The Hidden Curriculum