Back to the 70’s & Before – Racial Discrimination is Alive & Well

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In 1978, much to my total shock and disbelief, my otherwise liberal father would not allow me to date anyone who wasn’t White. My dad had always been so fair – his views on this issue totally sideswiped me. It was appalling to me that a person could be judged on their skin color and culture. I’d always had multi-cultural friends, but once I tried to date a Hispanic, the cultural understanding from my father ended there.

For much of the American population, times have now changed. We are a more tolerant society than we were thirty (or more) years ago. However, the new-fangled ideas of change seem to have overlooked some. I read a news article about a white justice of the peace in Louisiana who has repeatedly refused to marry interracial couples. He apparently screens couples in advance to identify the ethnicity of bride and groom. The JP defends himself by saying he’s not a racist – he has many black friends (who even use his toilet!) – but he feels that the “offspring” of mixed races won’t fit in with either race, essentially being the bastards of society. (Sounds more like the JP is talking about puppies).

Wow – deja vous! That’s exactly the reason my father had given me over thirty years ago. The children will have no ethnic group. They would be society’s outcasts.

But of course, I didn’t agree, and being the rebel that I am, I did it anyway.

I can honestly say that I don’t remember one time where it appeared my kids were being mistreated because they belonged to two ethnic groups. If anything, I think being bi-racial helped them identify with both groups.

And whether you agree or disagree with the practice of interracial dating and marriage, the US Supreme court decided in 1967 that the government has no right to tell a person who they can or cannot marry. PERIOD.