Accepting the Colors: My Opinion on Interracial Dating

By Christina Coleman, 16, Staff Writer

Originally Published: Feb 22, 2005

Revised: Nov 10, 2010

It's not my fault that I'm attracted to white boys more than I am to black. But does it matter? Love is love, right?

Unfortunately, some people still have issues when the races romantically mingle—and it's something that bothers me and many other open-minded teens.

Back in the Day

To learn more about interracial dating, I spoke to my friend's parents, Sabrina and John, of Atco, NJ, who are an interracial couple. Sabrina, 32, is white and was raised in New York. John, 42, is black and originally from Camden, New Jersey.

Sabrina and John met in Florida. In the South, they said, people tend to look down on interracial couples more so than in the North. But Northerners are more likely to hide their real feelings than people in the South.

"Even though the North was more accepting than the South about interracial couples, there were often people who would smile in your face, but stab you in the back," says Sabrina.

I've also found this to be true. When I dated my Puerto Rican (now ex) boyfriend, a few girls in school would say how cute we were together. But one day I overheard one of these girls say, "She thinks she's too good for a black boy."

Which is entirely untrue. I have dated black guys. I just don't make my romantic decisions based on a guy's race. I look at the person, who he is and how we are together.

And that makes it all the more difficult to deal with the stares I would get when I was with my ex-boyfriend. (For the record, we did not break up because of race issues.) What hurts most is when people judge me or assume I would never give a black guy the time of day.

The Only One?

I began to think I was the only person in my school who would be in an interracial relationship, which motivated me to do a small survey of my own. Out of 85 random people that I asked in my school, 66 said they had no problem with interracial dating. But out of those 66, only 32 would actually participate in a mixed-race relationship.

I think some of the problem stems from family values. A lot of parents prefer to see their kids dating someone of their own race. But, as we get older, I think we have the right to choose the people we date.

A lot of interracial couples have successful relationships, get married, and have children. Just think of the people we would be missing in the world if we outlawed interracial dating. Alicia Keys, Halle Berry...let's not forget Tiger Woods!

Stop the Hate

We're in a new age with a new generation. Our society needs to learn that interracial couples can also help heal the hate in the world. Think about it. Racial and religious wars rage. Cultures clash. Hate crimes happen nearly every day.

So when I see an interracial couple, it reminds me that in small pockets of the world, we are unified and fighting back against racism and hate.

Stop hating, start accommodating! Remember these wise words and hopefully sometime soon in our lifetime, interracial couples will be like a Visa/MasterCard...accepted everywhere!

Your Comments

annoying

Posted by: virgin_snow_amaku_desu on Jul 17th, 2010 6:34am

i agree with this.. im dating a white guy and my mom
says"why dont you date those mexican boys instead of always
dating white boys"(im mexican). it gets on my nerves when
she says stuff like that and made a big deal of it... this
is america where there is all kinds of races... if you
wanted for me to date someone mexican then go and raise me
mexico..!!!!!! -_-

Interracial Relationships

Posted by: meme_thestar_09 on Jun 29th, 2009 1:29am

Well Im Black, and I like men out of my race. I started
liking them when I was about 13 years old. People at my
school say that I'm just not seeing the right guys. But does
the color of a person matter? I thought that it only matters
if you love them or not.

My girlfriend

Posted by: Scaramouche on Mar 10th, 2009 11:05pm

I live in Boston, 17-years-old and female, in a relationship
with a girl from Sierra Leone. I'm white and she's black,
but it's not really been an issue. We're pretty comfortable
with each other and make jokes/whatnot openly. It's kind of
a new relationship, but so far race just hasn't been an
issue, and I don't see why it would be.

Interracial Relationships

Posted by: ada_babiee829 on Feb 7th, 2009 6:31pm

ok well its just plain stupid in my opinion how people are
still living int the old days, back then you only lived with
people of the same colour, but now the whole world is
diverse, blacks living in same communities as whites and
asians and arabics latinas so its just so unfair, my bf is
mexican and i'm black, my parents dont approve but i really
dont care cuz i love him and he loves me and that's all that
matters to me and if you dont like well then too bad

Being stereotyped in a relationship

Posted by: daredog on Dec 21st, 2007 4:21pm

With my girlfriend being asian (im black)i went through an
entire line of criticism from people (especially her
parents), who thought that we weren't 'mentally equal'
because there are many stereotypes that asians are super
smart, and black people are ignorant, and amidst me being
one of the highest ranked students at school.

its a beautiful thing, so accept it.

Posted by: xbuttercupx on Dec 15th, 2007 9:29pm

I'm white. I have a black boyfriend who I love because of
who he is, true enough I love his skin color that isn't what
brought me to him. True love isn't based on appearance&is
really hard to find so why be so picky. Plus, not all black
people act like gangsters&thugs. Today in this world one of
the biggest issues is how races are still separated even
though we haven't been segregated for decades&interracial
dating is just one more way for us to get closer as a
country and as a whole world.

Its ridiculous

Posted by: BigMomma09 on Dec 15th, 2007 6:50pm

I have to say when I hear stories about people looking down
on interracial relationships I become outraged. I have never
been in one but the fact of the matter is is that love looks
beyond race, religion, culture, etc. I love my nana very
much and she partially raised me but she has made it very
clear that she will not stand for me dating another race
esp. a white person. I felt hurt when she said that but I
won't let that stop me. I commend you on going against the
grain; I hope you guys last.

My boyfriend.

Posted by: lizardsja on Sep 4th, 2007 8:31pm

My boyfriend is black and I am white. I did not even think
about what people would think when we started dating, but my
parents are extremely unhappy and so are his. Despite this,
I love him. Interracial relationships are just like any
other relationship, we just have to work a little harder to
be accepted.

the harsh reality

Posted by: be your own on Jul 19th, 2007 3:38am

recently ive been planning a suprise party for a friend. and
the guy whos house were having the party at happens to be
black. my grandfather asked if i liked this boy and i said
no were just friends. y? he said because your dad would have
a cow if you dated this boy. so basically he was saying that
because im mexican and hes black theres no way we could ever
have a relationship. that isnt rite! if you car for someone
you shouldnt make the color of their skin a reason to or not
to date them!

interracial relationships.

Posted by: Brookaliscious on Jul 14th, 2007 11:02pm

I live in Florida and my first serious boyfriend was black
(I'm white). He is my best friend and we did everything
together, but everytime we went out in public, people always
turned down their noses at us; as if they didn't even know
we were there. His parents hated the fact that he was dating
a "white girl" and made us break up after we had been hiding
our relationship for almost a year. His parents still don't
like seeing us together. I think you should love whoever,
regardless of their race.

Accepting the Colors: My Opinion on Interracial Dating

Back in the Day

The Only One?

Stop the Hate

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