:(


.....

starang21 is gonna make me beat him. :mad:

* Applause * Couldn't have said it better

Exactly!! I've never let race hinder who I dated. As much as we try, we can't control who we are attracted to. What we can control is how we respond or handle the attraction. If you are ashamed or scared of caring for someone outside of your race, you need to decide if you want to live your life for yourself or someone else. If you don't treat me right, I don't care what race you are, I'm gone...

LOLOLOL

I know this is thread is old...

but we just had a race discussion and of course interracial relationships came up, one thing that people noticed was that the opinion varied on heritage, for example alot of Black Caribbeans said they were okay with interracial relationships whereas African Americans (especially from the South), were against interracial relationships.

Personally, I've only dated Black women (of all heritages), my parents were always okay with it (dunno if it was just to keep the peace or if they really were, they haven't said), being that I am Latino, I can assume that my folks (following a pattern I've seen predominant among Latinos) would strongly prefer (if we marry inside our group), if that person were light skinned with a strong European background as opposed to a Black or Indigenous mixed Latino.

In the discussion, people did discuss how learned of each other's cultures people would have to be in order to become accepted into each other's families, but someone pointed out that it could be considered intrusive if you have someone outside your culture talking to you about your own people.....what do you think?

A black African and black American can have tension if they act is if being on different continents constitutes huge differences in the "type of black" that they are rather than seeing themselves as part of the African diaspora. And if this is fueled by ignorance of black African and black American experiences and culture, it can be intrusive.

I assume you are a "white Latino" (in layperson's terms :)) so it makes sense that this would translate into "racial" differences (rather that just cultural and ethnic) in your family's eyes. In this country and in Latin American countries, there is a great social divide between groups of people based on the color of their skin, features, and hair texture. So things like attractiveness and social status (i.e. the white privilege that people of European background receive all over the world) will be based on that. If you date someone of the African diaspora, familiarity with each other's "culture" would have to include acknowledging and discussing this without being too consumed with it.

^^^^Actually I am a Mestizo (White/Indigenous), but folks mainly recognize the "White" side, my family is darker, has different hair texture, etc. a lot of Latinos still have the "White is superior" mentality that has been fed...regardless of one's own background (e.g. Black Latinos denying their African heritage or downplaying "Black" features and praising "White" ones).

I am very into other folks' cultures, race/ethnic discussions, especially Africana culture, the lady I am seeing right now actually have a lot of discussions on race, thus we are very open to talking and learning of each other's cultures, though I do understand there needs to be that level or respect in educating yourself about someone else's (e.g. if someone thinks that experience is the only way to understand things, then I can't say otherwise).

"...for example alot of Black Caribbeans said they were okay with interracial relationships whereas African Americans (especially from the South), were against interracial relationships"

This is interesting to me, as my boyfriend's family is Jamaican (black) and they weren't too thrilled about him dating me because I am black American. It took a very long time for them (his mom esp.) to get over this. From the way they talk, it's like black Americans and Jamaicans are different species or something, lol. And interracial relationships aren't cool with them either. BUT this may just be an isolated case.

I figured there had to be some reason your family saw dating people with more of a European background as dating "in group." :)


Thanks for the insight.

It isn't just an isolated incident. They are making the "African diasporic fallacy" that I discussed in my post.

So your experience is probably an example of the part of his post that you quoted. If you were nonblack American (which would make the relationship "interracial" among other things) then they may not be opposed to it.

i prefer white women.

Liar.

ok,

light, bright, damn near white?

:thinking:

and long straight hair.