Much time has been spent focusing on race relations, but in the year 2007, are we even closer to understanding why it is that some of us “just can’t get along?”
Despite optimistic numbers that show that people are more accepting of interracial marriages than they have been in the past, there are still underlying tensions that are not being addressed, particularly in the realm of multicultural romance.
How is this so, when race is supposedly no longer a factor in today’s world?
As much as whites like to say that blacks play the race card and keep the animosity going, it is largely white kids who fear reactions from their parents, as “Guess who is Coming to Dinner” scenarios play out in their heads. Even worse, some consider a person of another “race”, okay for dating, but not for anything serious.
I am reminded of the case of a girl who dated a white male for some time and eventually got pregnant. While he told her he would be there for the kid (and half heartedly complied), he wouldn’t even consider marriage., as blacks were merely okay for dating only.
The article, BLACK OR WHITE , written by Heather Crothers, expounds a bit on modern ideas of race and dating relationships, from the point of view of college students.
One such student, declined to express his parents’ feelings on the matter, but junior mass communications major Jasmine Terry, said [of her mother’s outlook], “She doesn’t agree with it. She believes that everyone should stay within their own race, which I don’t agree with.”
Another question that was posed in the article, was “Is it an insult to one’s race to date outside of it?’
Student “Brown” stated, “No, I don’t think so, but honestly, I just love black women, and personally, I think every black man should at least date one black woman.”
Another Hispanic student named Donald, added, “It’s not like I’ve only dated Mexicans. I’ve dated blacks and to me, they have no respect.”
What about racial terms—should they be used in mixed relationships?
What some people had to say was eye opening.
Brown believes that, “It depends on how deep the relationship is,” but Donald argues that racial terms don’t matter because, “…. We know what we are and what we are not.”
Some said the biggest difficulty is gaining acceptance from the elderly crowd, and other concluded that the biggest difficulty is persecution from your own race and ridicule from family members who don’t accept it.
I thought I could no longer be surprised in this realm, but I suppose I was. There seemed to still be walls that should be broken down by now.
But perhaps I am impatient, and the bricks are being removed, one by one. I just hope that I will live to see the day when articles like BLACK AND WHITE, and even my own, will be looked at with confusion by a mixed, and loving, society.
That day is perhaps, closer than we think.
Black & Interracial Dating 