Have you seen the new Cheerios ad, “Just Love”? The ad features a interracial family like the one in the picture, and it’s got a lot of people upset; however, even more people are defending Cheerios’s decision to portray an American family in a realistic way.

I just got this note from Chirlane McCray, the wife of Bill de Blasio (he’s running for mayor and is currently the Public Advocate ). At first I was like, hey, are they the family in the Cheerios ad? Nope. They just made their own photo in their kitchen with a Cherrios box. Nice job.

The ad struck a chord with me, and I wanted to tell you why.

This may surprise you, but Bill’s age concerned me more than the color of his skin (he’s six years younger!). But I knew our age difference wasn’t the cause of stares on the subway, or why our families were so surprised when we brought each other home.

As an interracial couple, we sometimes felt conspicuous — which was painful. If you’re in love with someone, you’re in love with someone.

But Bill and I believed it would get better over time, and we hoped for our kids it would be easier.

That’s why the Cheerios ad is so refreshing.

19 years of marriage and two children later, this is the first TV commercial I have ever seen with a family that looks a little bit like ours. And it’s a big deal that despite some nasty criticism, Cheerios — a staple on American breakfast tables, spanning generations and cross-cutting just about every social boundary — produced the ad and stuck by it.

Bill, Chiara, Dante, and I are different parts (the kids would emphasize the “different”!) who make a whole.

Cheerios is recognizing the changing face of America, and celebrating that our differences make us stronger.

That’s what Bill is doing by fighting for every New Yorker — in every part of our city. Times are changing and we support the people who are changing with us.

Stand with us if that’s you:

http://billdeblasio.com/together