Taye Diggs Wants Son With Ex-Wife Idina Menzel To Be Called ‘Mixed,’ Not ‘Black’

Taye Diggs would rather his son with singer Idina Menzel not be labeled black, but would prefer he be identified as mixed.

Taye Diggs’ Calls Son “Mixed” Race

Diggs recently penned a children’s book called Mixed Me! that he dedicated to his biracial son with Menzel. While discussing the book, Diggs explained his thoughts about labeling his mixed child black.

“When you [call biracial kids black], you risk disrespecting that one half of who you are and that’s my fear,” Diggs said in an interview with The Grio. “I don’t want my son to be in a situation where he calls himself black and everyone thinks he has a black mom and a black dad, and then they see a white mother, they wonder, ‘Oh, what’s going on?'”

Following the interview, Diggs received some backlash online along with posts of support. Replying to his critics, Diggs clarified his statements, but held firm on his sentiment.

“I am a proud black man. I want my son to grow up to be a proud black man if he so chooses,” Diggs wrote on Instagram. “He has a mother who is white. He has every right to be just as proud of his mother’s ‘blood’ as well. Please wake up, people. It’s not that deep.”

In his interview with The Grio, Diggs also weighed in on how President Barack Obama – who was born to a white mother – has been identified as a black man, and as the United States of America’s 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,” Diggs added. “We’re still choosing to make that decision, and that’s when I think you get into some dangerous waters.”