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By Kelly Wilde
(who lives in Swaziland with her husband
and children)
Life in Swaliland is sweet. It is as close
to utopia as an interracial family could get, which I will explain
in a moment.
Frank and I fell in love 8 years ago in
San Diego. Perhaps we were looking at the world through rose-colored
glasses, but during our courtship we didn't really notice any glaring
reactions to our interracial union. However, once we moved to Washington,
DC because of career opportunities, we were suddenly painfully aware
that we were different. We experienced more stares, blatant comments,
and the neverending "are you together?" in the grocery stores. Things
did generally improve once we moved out to the far suburbs of Burke,
VA and we had our first child. (I believe that having children "legitimized"
our relationship in some people's eyes.)
In January, 1996 we moved to Mbabane, Swaziland
as diplomats with the State Department. Melissa, aged 2, was enrolled
in the Montessori International School and much to our surprise,
she was one of 30 biracial students. In fact, this preschool is
one-third European, one-third African, and the other multiracial!
English is spoken in class, but on the playground, one hears many
languages. it has been a great cultural experience for our daughter
who truly sees no skin color.
What has made Swaziland a true "melting
pot" is it's close proximity to South Africa. During the apartheid
era, interracial dating and marriage were forbidden and had to be
kept secret. For this reason, many couples fled to this peaceful
hill country for solace. They worked and raised their families here.
One sees biracial (or colored) people from 4 to 40 years old everywhere.
In fact, there are so many biracial adults that they have often
intermarried. Presently in South Africa, there are entire "colored"
suburbs. However, in Swaziland, everyone lives and works together
in harmony and the indigenous Swazis have always welcomed these
South African refugees with open arms. They were quietly doing their
part to fight the evils of apartheid. We will really miss the warmth
of this tiny nation that has made us feel like we're all members
of the same family...of mankind.
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