"I'm Just Their White Daddy": Teddy Swims Opened Up About Preparing To Raise A Mixed Child, And His Honesty Is Refreshing
Singers Teddy Swims and his girlfriend Raiche Wright are getting ready to welcome their first baby together, and now he's speaking vulnerably about raising a mixed child.
Raiche, who is mixed race (Black and white), and Teddy, whose real name is Jaten Collin Dimsdale, confirmed their relationship in July 2024. They announced their pregnancy at the start of 2025.
During a recent interview on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast, the "Lose Control" artist shared how he plans to navigate conversations about raising a biracial child as a white man.
"We get looks all the time going places," Teddy said. "Especially her [referring to Raiche]. She's got a Black dad and a white mom. She's shared with me so many times about how it feels. She's like, 'I'm never Black enough or I'm never white enough."
"She's gone through a lot more. She's a way better person to tell that story, especially to my child. I would never want to tell that story for her, because she's so elegantly living through that and knowing what that's like."
He went onto say that while he's used to the stares they've received, he knows it affects her more than it does him, because it's something she's dealt with her whole life.
And while he can't shed light on what it means to walk through the world as a person of color, he does hope to help his child navigate their life being safe and open.
"I hope I can create that safe space. I know that kid will go through struggles I never went through. You have to play it as it goes. I've never been through being mixed, so I don't know how to tell that kid how to deal with that."
"I'll only be as supportive as I can and tell him, 'Son, daughter, cis-baby, whatever it is — be you, baby. Be you. Be whatever you want to be. Be whatever feels authentic to you. Don't let nobody tell you different. Don't let nobody tell you you're not allowed to be this or that. That's all I can really do until we get there.'"
He playfully added, "I don't know how to give advice on being a mixed baby. I'm just their white daddy [laughs]." Which is when Coco Jones, who was also a guest on the show, chimed in and said, "You got some soul on ya, dog. You're white with seasoning [laughs]."
I appreciate how honest his point of view was. You can tell he doesn't want to speak on an experience he's never had, but he's still wants to be supportive in any way he can. Instead of retelling stories he's heard from his girlfriend, he wants to give Raiche the space and opportunity to do that for herself.
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