Skye’ Robinson, Darielle Benjamin, Tamera Blackstone, and Wyn’ter Anderson

Malcolm X once said, “I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being- neither white black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there’s no question of integration or intermarriage.” Interracial relationships started as very uncommon. For a long period of time, many people were against interracial dating and interracial couples. In 1959, only 4% of Americans approved of interracial relationships, but continued to rise over the recent decades. Society has always played a big role in interracial dating. Now, interracial dating impacts society because Americans identify it as a change for the better.

Interracial relationships or interracial dating is when two people from different races, ethnic groups, or different cultural backgrounds date or marry. Interracial relationships and interracial dating started out illegal.  Many people were against interracial couples at first because of the black women being raped by white slave owners during slavery. Because of this, as time went by, people still did not accept interracial couples, even though it was legal because the ties to racism were too deep. This all changed when the Richard and Mildred Loving case was brought upon the court. The court ruled that laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional in 1967 and because of this case, interracial dating was now allowed and people were able to date anyone of any race and of any color. In other words, interracial dating of any background was now legal.

One lady known as Ms.Tisha Blackstone was in an interracial relationship with a caucasian man, Jonathan, at the age of 16. At this time people were still judgemental towards the situation. “In California, where I’m from, it’s nothing. You see it all day. In New Orleans it was very different. They accept it now, but back then it was different. But it’s like you have no choice so why care? Don’t nobody have time to be worrying about if you’re dating a white girl or if you’re dating a black boy,” explains Ms. Blackstone. Different places revealed different attitudes towards interracial relationships. People reacted to seeing them together. “Some people like an African American couple would stare for a long time or the Caucasian people would laugh or make a smart remark saying what is he doing,” describes Ms. Blackstone. At the time, Ms. Blackstone didn’t really react to the smart and rude remarks because she was only 16 and she was just amazed about what was going on. “For me, I didn’t like people staring at me. I was wondering, like, what was the big deal?” adds Ms. Blackstone.

As of today, interracial dating has changed. Society is now accepting the fact that people could date or marry whoever they want. Statistics show that from June 13 to July 5 of last year, public support for interracial marriage has grown steadily with each successive year. A Gallup poll ran showing that Black Americans approved of Black-White marriage at the rate of 96 percent, which is nearly universal. The American rate of acceptance towards interracial dating is dramatically increasing every year.

  In conclusion, interracial dating and relationships have changed over time and in different places. The 1967 ruling that made interracial relationships legal played a big part in changing people’s outlooks and attitudes towards them. More people today are accepting these relationships, whereas in the past lots of people were against them. Things have changed over time and now interracial relationships are now normal and many people are in agree with them. Now people are able to be in an interracial relationship without being criticized.