Interracial love in the South
JC
The Hattiesburg American featured a story on interracial relationships for Valentine’s day (thanks to Adina for the heads-up! :)). In the South, numbers of interracial couples are also on the rise.
As men and women celebrate their love and commitment this Valentine’s Day, their numbers are increasingly including couples who are from different racial backgrounds. What was once a rare sight and a taboo in the South has now become more common. Statistics from the U.S. Census show that the nation had 1.7 million reported interracial marriages in 2002 - up from 697,000 in 1982.
A few couples are interviewed for this story (surprisingly, a diversity of couples where partners are white, Asian, Black, Latino). Overall, there’s a pretty blissful tone to the article (”we are color blind!”), with only slight mention of the reality that so many others still see color and focus on it:
“When I look at Jeff, all I see is my husband,” Luisa said. “It’s when we go out that I realize we are of different races.” Jeff and Luisa Bivins often receive stares when they go out. In addition, because some people have limited exposure to Asian culture, Luisa said she is often mistaken for Chinese or Japanese. To cope with the stares, they opt for avoidance or education. “If people talk to us, we are usually more than happy to share information,” Luisa said.
The Jameses focus on their own lives and their contributions to the community rather than the stares they receive in public. “It’s not what you are,” Diane said. “It’s who you are.”
Also view a forum initiated by the author of the article, to discuss the feedback that has been received on this story — apparently, this pic of the interracial couple interviewed was on the front page! (and has elicited at least one complaint so far) 
April wrote:
Something I’ve always been pist about, is why interracial couples have to teach people who only date within their “race” about tolerance. Shyte, they need to educate themselves and not expect interracial couples to have to rationalize their love, because it doesn’t make any sense to people who can’t figure it out.
Posted 18 Feb 2006 at 2:01 am ¶
Steve Holsten wrote:
You think you have it bad, try being a jewish man who dates a black man. It’s so hard but worth it when I look in the eyes of my love
Posted 18 Feb 2006 at 6:50 pm ¶
Mulatto Unity wrote:
The absurditiy is that women like the one above and even lighter are considered to be in “interracial relationships” whenever they date white men but wouldn’t if they dated black men. More ODR brainwashing!
Where is the free choice if your ancestors were classed a certain way and have been brainwashed by the media to keep calling themselves such ever since?
Posted 19 Feb 2006 at 1:52 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
MU,
Regardles of what her background may be, if she self-identifies culturally/ethnically as African American, even if she’s multigenerationally mixed (which is what you’re referring to), then that’s her perogative and POV.
In which case, yes, she’s married inter”racially.”
You can’t really tell much from appearance anyway. We don’t all look alike.
Posted 20 Feb 2006 at 2:27 am ¶
Candace wrote:
Mulatto Unity- See that crap that you spit is the reason people do not take many biracial people serious and our situation. Do you know according to the Genetics Bazaar that African- Americans are at least 17% Caucasian? So the multigenerationally mix versus interracial arguement you want to make is ….sigh. This woman above and most black folks know they are mixed down the line, but that does not stop them from wanting to identify as African American. What just because she is a little lighter brown and has wavier hair then she should say she is a mulatta/multigenerationally mixed because her great, great grandaddy( slave owner) was white and maybe one relative was Native American?? So now she can’t be black/African American anymore? Then all black folks would be in this category, so what’s your point?? Hell, Cedric the Entertainer’s maternal grandmother is a Irish, white woman…so should he not be considered black or in an interracial relationship if he dated a white woman? He is dark as hell, but has a closer relative that white so what should he do?? Sigh. You are the one that is brainwashed and deseparate. This kind of garbage really makes me sick.
Posted 20 Feb 2006 at 3:19 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
It’s all about self-identification and the definition of ethnicity.
Since “Race” doesn’t really exist, but ethnicity and genetics do (but are not exclusively linked by any means), then our “race” categories are used for convenience and are usually a euphemism for ethnicity.
If the woman in this article is grounded in AA culture, if both parents identified as AA, then sure, she is AA by ethnicity, regardless of forebearers.
Posted 21 Feb 2006 at 8:35 am ¶