INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS

I found this online and thought it be a good read. Considering there is a lot of mixed people in my family.

Interracial Relationships: Acceptance by Gee

I have never been in an interracial relationship, but I wouldn't knock it at all. Why? Because we're all human with blue blood running through our veins (at least it's blue before it hits oxygen). It's no big deal…or at least it shouldn't be.

Humans have been mating with people outside their "race" for centuries. There are whole ethnicity's that were created as a result of interracial relationships, creating people who went on to do great things in the world. Why should it stop now?

Somehow, the black community, along with many other communities, have been brainwashed into believing that something is wrong with dating outside their race. I don't know exactly how bad it is with other races, but we have it bad.

Let it go, people. Let it go. There's over six million humans in the world and there's plenty of love for everybody, but many of us are too busy focusing on who someone else chooses to date all because of a skin color. It's not necessary.

I'm so sick and tired of the stick to "your own race" preaching as if we own one another. In all actuality, we don't. While we're all linked by race and maybe even similar genetics, we belong to none other but ourselves and whoever we choose to belong to. Who is anyone to tell another person who they should and shouldn't be with?

If a black person dates outside their race, we never once think that it's because they've fallen in love with a great person. It's always because 1) They're a sell-out that hates their own people, or 2) They're out to hurt some one's (particularly a certain group of people) feelings, or 3) They benefit from it more. Sure, some admit that it's because of one of those very reasons, but not everyone thinks this way.

I used to be the type of person who said that I believed interracial dating was ok as long as the couple wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons. As I matured and learned to focus more on myself, I began to care less as to whether or not the next person dated for the right or wrong reasons. If someone wants to date another person for shallow reasons, that's their business, not mine.
Lets say that Jonathan, a thirty year old black male, is "fed up" with black women for whatever stupid reason. After he becomes successful, he decides to date women who aren't black because they treat him better. His actions are clearly driven by stereotypes, which is a red flag. However, it's Jonathan's life. He should be able to live his life without people ridiculing him for who he chooses to date. Rather than getting all up in Jonathan's business, and putting all of our energy in attacking this man and whoever he dates, we need to be putting into our own relationships.

Our community has a problem with defining why a person chooses to date outside their race, as if it's their personal right to disturb the peace and put them under some sort of a microscope in the first place. For example: One of the most popular excuses as to why black men date white women is because they're supposedly "easy." Since we've heard this statement from "various" black men, we like to take that statement and apply it to all black male on white female relationships to justify our own insecurities.

How dare we? Don't you know that there are just as many decent white women as there are black women who deserve to be loved just as much as everyone else? Don't you know that there's black women out there who are just as easy? It's documented you know. Don't believe me? Ask Mr. Marcus. Lets not be so shallow.

Another stereotype that we need to get over is that black women date non-black men because they're fed up with black men, or that non-black men who go after black women do it for sexual reasons. Black women are more than just bodies, and there's plenty of non-black men who look past the physical. Again, lets not be so shallow.

It's great to see a successful black man marrying a successful black woman, but it's also great to see a successful person marrying another successful person in general. Why can't we be happy to see any successful marriage period (in the midst of high divorce rates across all backgrounds)? Lets not act like we're all going to sleep at night thinking "Wow…my life is so much better because a successful black man is married to a black woman." It just doesn't work that way.
We're somehow made to feel obligated to "stick with our own kind" to preserve the black race. If we don't, we're made to look as if we're out to terminate the image of the "black family." This belief needs to cease. There's nothing wrong with starting a life with someone who makes you happy…whether they're African, European, Asian, Hispanic, or Indian.

If there's anyone who feels that we need more positive images of a black family (and there's nothing wrong with that), then they should take it upon themselves to create that image themselves. It's very selfish to expect people to live their lives according to how we feel they should live it. We certainly wouldn't want that done to us, would we?
What is it about limiting love to a skin color? What if you came across a person who is everything you dreamed, except they were a different race than expected? Are you going to pass up a lifetime of happiness simply because of a skin color? If so, fine, but don't down others who choose to follow their heart.

Isn't it ironic how communities turn their noses up at interracial relationships, when in fact if it weren't for it, many of us wouldn't exist? I know for a fact that I wouldn't, as my grandfather was biracial. If one rewrote history to have everyone stay with their race, just imagine all the things that would be taken away from this earth.

To all the people who see interracial relationships as some sort of crime, stop the madness. The mean stares and bickering needs to cease. Once we elevate our minds, raise our self-esteem a little bit, and realize that not everyone is out to make us feel unworthy of being loved, we will be able to see the beauty in all relationships. Don't be so vain. It's not always about you.