"I'm Not Racist But..."

How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m not prejudiced; some of my best friends or co-workers are black. I just don’t believe in inter-racial dating.”? People who think this way would easily consider inter-racial relationships an alternative lifestyle, and not one to be supported. It’s odd to think we’ve come so far since the days of segregation and racial cruelty and yet we still encounter people who say things like this.

Interracial lifestyles are more accepted today than they were twenty years ago. In fact, twenty years ago, consensus forms didn’t allow for checking more than one box under the “race” section! And, unlike fifty years ago, interracial dating is no longer a crime punishable by law. But interracial families still struggle with acceptance and racist comments. White people who choose to be with black people are still slandered as “nigger lovers” and black people who choose to be with whites are considered sell outs to their race. So while it’s clear that progress is being made, it is also clear that progress still needs to be made in the realm of interracial love.

“I’m not racist; but I don’t believe in interracial relationships.” In my opinion, there’s no truth in that statement. If you judge a person, harshly, based on color in any aspect of life, then you’re racist.