Hello everyone – this is post 2 of 2 dedicated to some of the ideals I’ve internalized from observing the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of the holiday. Read it, think about it, agree or disagree with me and then share your thoughts below.
My earliest (personal) memory of an interaction with an interracial relationship happened when I was like 10 years old. My brother was on a date with a white girl (I’m black for those who didn’t know) – for some reason he took me along. Two older black ladies saw them together and basically verbally-lambasted my brother and his date. These were two total strangers… No one knew anyone… but for some reason it was deemed acceptable behavior by two adult women.
I remember they were older – more than likely old enough to have been around during the time of Dr. King, so I guess I get where they were coming from a little bit. But that’s not the world I was raised in nor the ideals that were placed in me by my family.
I’ve never agreed with the actions of those women that night – or the actions of anyone else who’s done anything like that. All of my U.S. readers have probably seen (or heard of) something along the lines of the reactions depicted in the video below…
Please CLICK HERE (Sorry – no embed from YouTube)
And this is 2012 — not the 60′s. That’s how those women reacted to my brother when they saw him out. Seriously.
I’m not saying that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a supporter of Interracial Relationships – I honestly haven’t studied his ideals that deeply. BUT — part of me feels like he would have been supportive of not harassing people who are in mixed-race relationships. I also think he wouldn’t have wanted people to have bothered any children who would have resulted from such relationships… just saying.
Have I ever dated anyone outside of my race? Not really. But I’ve admittedly liked a few. Kissed a few – all done shamelessly. There just wasn’t anything wrong with it to me. I’m not just talking about black/white relationships either. Asian Girls, Hispanic Women, Indian Ladies… They’re all gorgeous to me in their own way – and I have no problem admitting that. The girl I’m currently dating is black, but that’s not due to a “I only date women of my own race” Policy – it’s because she and I click. I judge folks based on the content of their character.
Isn’t that what Martin preached?
400 years of forced servitude aside (people who don’t get that one – I’m referring to an anecdotal time referring to how long African-Americans were held in slavery), it’s the past. I think Dr. King saw that and was hoping people would get to that point themselves one day as a society in the U.S.
I’m beginning to babble now.
I’m willing to discuss this at length with anyone who wants to have a go at it in the Comment Section below as long as you’re civil in our discussion. I’ll leave you with this video to marinate on before commenting…
Where do you sit on this issue? Don’t worry – no one will judge you here. Folks will just agree to disagree on this one. Speak your mind in the Comment Section below.
Peace and thanks for reading.
Happy MLK Day.
I laughed when the bar video started as I knew they were actors. People would have to be really nuts to approach people that they don’t know and insult them. I have been in a mixed relationship for years and no one has ever openly insulted us. Ideally, no one should think this way anymore, but if they do, I think that most people are smart enough to mutter to themselves instead of launching verbal assaults on strangers. We have to work on eradicating racism entirely, but I gather that being openly racist isn’t socially acceptable anymore. It seems to be more frowned upon.
Years ago, someone did make a cross over comment as I walked down the street hugging the fair skinned Latino that I was seeing at the time. He tried to shake the naysayer’s hand, but he didn’t want to be touched. People did stare, but that was the only time that I recall being openly insulted.
I don’t mean to draw fire with stereotypes, but I was living further south when that happened. I have been living in the Northeast for a decade and I noticed that people don’t seem to care as much up here–again, no one has ever said anything directly to us. I also noticed that we received more looks when we traveled south.
I honestly laughed a little bit when I saw mention of the south (my parents are from there) – but I do agree with you when you say that we need to get rid of racism. I’ve never been on the receiving end of anything – but I have seen it happen to friends, and it sucks.
It’s whack that we even still have to worry about this. But I guess hundreds of years of mental conditioning is not so easily broken…
Not at all.
Speaking from the inside of one such relationship (I’m Black, my husband is Filipino American), I can say we haven’t experienced any outright discrimination. When people spend any amount of time around us, the similarities become so clear that the external difference becomes a moot point, I guess. That being said, I am as loving and supportive of my global, diasporic community as I have ever been, and I hope that no black man who sees us together takes it personally.
I hope no one hated on you all either – sorry I’m so late on this (I honestly thought that I had responded already). Do you think that it matters as much to men as it does women?