True Life: I'm in an Interracial Relationship

[Kitty 34]

I have no problems at all with it. My middle DS right now is in an interracial relationship. She's a very nice young lady and as long as they're happy and treat each other well I wouldn't care if she was from Mars!

 

[Jennifer S]

I have never been in one but my sister married an African-American guy so my niece and nephew are mixed. Doesn't bother me at all. Sometimes I wonder how BIL feels being in an all white family. He had a very different childhood. Love him to pieces. It's hard to believe people would have a problem with it.

 

[JunieJay]

I have nothing against interracial marriages (and have interacial marriages in my family), but growing up, it was taboo. And I grew up in a diverse city. There was no mixing of the races until I got to be about high school age, and then it was rare and not readily accepted. I graduated from high school 26 years ago, so it was really not that long ago. We've come a long way in a short time, nowdays it seems so odd to me that such a thing would matter. What is even more astounding to me is when I was in grammar school I knew no one of another race. Again, in a large, diverse city. Neighborhoods were not only segregated by race, but by ethnic background. I only knew Irish and Italian kids until I was 14 or 15 years old, even though there were people from all over the world and of all different races living among us.

Maybe that is why its harder for older people to accept interracial marriages. Its a combination of the way they were raised and plain ignorance.

 

[dizneenut]

Doesn't bother me at all. DH is Puerto Rican and I am white. We have 4 gorgeous boys. Our family and friends are fine with it.

 

[Robinrs]

I've been in many... more than I can count... but had to keep it from my Mom who was totally.. and I mean TOTALLY... against them.

My current BF is mixed and keeps it from most people due to the narrow mindedness of people to this day. My stupid sister still calls mixed people "zebras"...

Ignorance runs in all races.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I didn't vote because I can't decide if I am in an interracial relationship or not. DH is Irish and very fair skinned. I am Mexican/Lebanese/western European, but the Mexican/Lebanese (of which I am 1/2) dominates. Heck when MIL found out DH and I were dating she thought I was black and freaked out. The kids told her that. Anyway...

I have no issues with interracial relationships. Who cares?

On a funny related note, when I visited Ireland, I was referred to in town as the dark skinned one. DH wanted to kick some butt. Men.

 

[Daxx]

I hope I don't have a problem w/interracial relationships b/c adopted DS is a byproduct of an interracial relationship!!!!! His bmother was caucasian and his birthfather was 1/3 African American, 1/3 Hispanic and 1/3 caucasian. So, I had better be ok w/interracial relationships, right?!

Anyway, I voted "I have no problem with it but have not had an interracial relationship".

I want to state that I never had an interracial relationship b/c the opportunities never presented themselves to me. If an African American, or a Native American, or Asian, or Puerto Rican, or any man of any other race asked me out, I would've gone out if I was interested in HIM as a person -- meaning his personality, if we clicked, etc. I wouldn't have passed up a date based on skin color.

My adopted child is interracial. We have no problem w/it. When it comes to dating, he can date whomever he wishes regardless of what color her skin is. I just hope she's a sweetie!!!! My DH's sister married an African American man and we have no problems w/that. Funny b/c it seems like he's more of a member of the family than one of DH's brothers!!!!! I'm glad that our DS is being raised in a family that accepts everyone regardless of their skin color.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

Our closest friends are a bi-racial couple with two beautiful girls. One is dark with curly dark hair. The other is fair-skinned and fair-haired --- blonde like her mom. We're fishbelly white with dark hair. Our child is fishbelly white with fair hair. When we all go out together, it's rather amusing to watch people try to figure out who belongs to whom. I don't know why it matters to people.

 

[Crankyshank]

I've dated guys who were of a different ethnicity but have never been in an interracial relationship per se. I've got absolutely no problem with it whatsoever.

 

[RickinNYC]

I have a problem with anyone who has a problem with interracial relationships. Can't state my opinion of those people 'cause I'd get banned faster'n you can say hillybilly-uneducated-bubba-racist.

Besides, my brothers and I are proudly the product of an interracial marriage. Mom is Japanese and Dad is Scottish/Irish.

 

[Carl]

My ds is mixed, and my dh and dd are white, as am I. You can imagine the questions we get! They are only 3 years apart, and ds is just starting to realize that he doesnt quite look like the rest of us. My mom went crazy when she found out I was going to have a mixed baby, but it didnt last long.

The reason I am against it you can see in the post above "You can imagine the questions we get!"
It is just too tough on the kids.

 

[helenabear]

I've been in them and married to someone of a different "race", though we don't really look like we are of different "races"

I always put race in quotes though because we are all of the human race! I don't have a problem with mixed relationships though and never have. I don't have a problem when people say they prefer the looks of a certain type of the others. In general, I am not nearly attracted to light and white as I am dark. My DH even loves to tease me about it.

I have met people who have problems with it in general so it is still live and well in the USA at least. A few roommates told me once that there was no way they could bring home my boyfriend since he wasn't white. I've had negative comments from my DH's family (though now they are a bit better) and some of his aquaintances (you can believe we aren't friends).

I never did quite understand what the issue is though. No one has really said to me why they were so against it. I have even seen posters on the DIS here say that mixed children were wrong (years ago, but still I have seen it). I'm sure hope our child that is on the way never has to hear that though. I wish one of the people who are against it could explain it to me though... just because it is something I have never understood.

 

[luvwinnie]

DH is Cuban, but pretty light...I never considered us interracial actually!

 

[poptoone]

I personally would not be involved in an interracial relationship. I could care less what other people do as it really has no effect on me!

 

[DeterminedOne]

I'm African American and my husband is White. We have been together almost fourteen years. You wouldn't believe the stares and comments we get from people - people of all race, not just white people. You would think that we both had a third eye the way people stare at us. There have been several instances, yes several, where black men have approached me and pretty much berated me for being with my husband. Seriously! Once at Target and once at the airport. The nerve of people!!!

I have a friend who is white and we have been friends nearly twenty years. For the longest time she always said that she would never date a black man. We fell out of friendship for a few months because she made the comment that she would never date a black man because when white women date black men the woman is considered "tainted." That comment really hurt me. A few years later she fell head over heals for a black man. They messed around for a while but the way he treated her it was clear that he really wanted nothing to do with her, but she was completely crazy about him. Funny how things end up ... Never say Never!!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

My ex-husband is Filippino. He's rather dark-skinned. His current wife and I are both white with similar colored features. My daughter got the light skin and dark Filippino features, his other daughter got the dark skin and caucasian features (light hair/eyes). Other than that, they look a lot alike.

So, anyway, I obviously don't have a problem with it.

 

[MushyMushy]

The reason I am against it you can see in the post above "You can imagine the questions we get!"
It is just too tough on the kids.

Everything's tough on kids these days.

I don't imagine being in a loving family is one of them.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

The reason I am against it you can see in the post above "You can imagine the questions we get!"
It is just too tough on the kids.

I was a mixed kid in Alabama. I've heard...

"How come your mom is black and you and your dad are white?" (My mom is hispanic)
"Do you and your brothers all have the same mom?" (Because two of us are light skinned and the other is very dark)
Even though I went to this high school for three years by the time my darker-skinned brother started, we had people suddenly assume that our family were migrant workers going back to Mexico after Christmas.
People have thought my mom was a nanny or a housekeeper. (She's a computer engineer)
When I was 7 years old, a little black girl in my 2nd grade class came up to me and said "I don't like Mexican people." We were within earshot of the black teacher. I was 7....I just said "oh yeah, well I don't like black people." Guess which one of us got paddled?


So yeah, you get questions and rude comments. But I can also think of some rude blonde jokes, offensive Jew comments, Asian comments, etc. You don't have to be of a mixed race for people to pick on you. Mean people will be mean no matter what.

 

[Ms Marigny]

I have no problem with it- I'm in an interracial relationship. I am white, DH is biracial. DD (down in my sig) is a nice mix of the two us.

No one has given us problems about it, although a few of my friends have told me that even though they have no problems with it, they would never be in an interracial relationship- that they could never "do that to their families". So the world still has a long way to go as far as that is concerned.

I'm only mildly concerned about how DD will deal with being biracial as she gets older, more about the labeling issue. I figure she'll just be an "other" until she is old enough to decide what she identifies herself as, if she chooses to do so.

And kids will find anything to pick on other kids about. I got picked on in school because I was too quiet.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My dad is mostly Native American (raised on a reservation for half his childhood) and my mom is white. Interestingly, my maternal grandparents had no problem with my parents dating, but my grandmother flipped out when they said they were getting married and a child was on the way.

I should point out that she apparently got over it, because there was never even a hint of disapproval when we visited, she loved us just the same as my blond, blue-eyed cousins.

My DH is half-Arab, but not obviously so. He grew up in redneck country and endured a lot of comments about "camel jockeys" and worse. The only comment I got about it was when a close family friend found out about our engagement, and she urged me to read the book, Not Without My Daughter.

Since both our fathers are dark and our mothers very blond/blue-eyed, we really had no idea what our children would look like. As it turned out, we have one boy who looks just like DH, and one energetic, mischievous little blondie.