I always believe everything happen for a reason.
The discomfort you experienced paved way for a very awesome experience at the cafe, imagine the lesson someone out will learn from this post? it wont have been there if you were still at home with your kids.

my heritage is both a challenge and a white flag.

Most times, people find it very hard to bond with other people due to heritage differences. But they are not to be blamed for it; some is due to the stories they've been told by the media and how the people at they other end of the line are painted. Its just their mental orientation, there is nothing you can do about, you cant force them to accept you as YOU when its obvious they wont.

Just keep doing the good work !