Interracial Love, Sex & Classism

There was a time when love and sex across racial boundaries was forbidden. In many families with traditional values, this still holds true. The thought of Daddy's Little Girl having a love or sexual interest in someone of another ethnic origin would send chills down the spines of countless fathers that have the mentality of Archy Bunker or Sanford. Yet, times they are a-changing, and interracial relationships are growing by increasing numbers.

I live in a community where racial boundaries have given way to a more complex set of socio-economic classifications. In my community, interracial couples walk down the street hand in hand, and most people pay no mind. I am fortunate enough to live in an Urban area, where people are open-minded and educated. Here, people are judged more by their contributions to society, occupation and education. Interacial couples of every type can be seen walking down the street - Asian men and White women, White men and Black women, Black men and Latin women and everything in between.

Where does this leave those who still live in predominantly racist communities? What stance should they take? If a White woman finds that she desires only Black men, should she relocate to a more modern community, or should she fight for what she believes in an attempt to educate those closed-minded individuals that surround her? Or, should she keep quiet and do what is socially acceptable? I do not have answers to these questions, but I know that these communities still exist. These are the niche areas ruled by those who would preach morality, those that would use the might of the US government to dictate right and wrong, and who would rather have women die in back alleys from the wrath of coat-hangers and quacks as they once did, than to grant a woman the right to decide what to do with her own body.

Interracial love is just one of many issues that small communities set in their ways are not yet ready to deal with. Do I see an end to this struggle in people's minds? Certainly, but I believe it will follow the historical models of the past. Everyone needs someone to judge as lower than him. Every new ethnic group that came to America looking for streets paved with gold has found themselves first swimming in shit and walking through a rainstorm of spit until the next group came along. People are starting to recognize racism as sheer stupidity, and interacial relationships will continue to multiply. However, the next battle we must overcome is classism.