The Interracial Couple (Yes, Race: That Thing We Aren’t Supposed to Talk About)

The following post is apart of Alex Beadon’s Feel Good Blogging Challenge. Admittedly, I was skeptical about something like this, but it’s turning out to be a powerful blogging exercise!

I am in a interracial relationship. I am a white female and my boyfriend is Asian (Cambodian and Chinese). As it turns out, there’s actually a name for our relationship: AMWF (Asian Male/White Female).

My boyfriend’s family came to America around the time he was born. As such, he’s very Americanized (his words), but still has the Cambodian roots he was born with; Asian culture still holds true and runs deep in his family. I find it an incredibly unique and humbling experience every time I’m with them, as it makes me realize how little I know about other cultures and the world around me. But this is not a post about my boyfriend’s family.

During my birthday weekend, I went to the Disney Food & Wine Festival in Orlando with my boyfriend, Kristen (my best friend), and her boyfriend, Kal, who is black. (I suppose that makes them a BMWF couple.)

I was brought up to see people, not color.

Now is a good time to stop and say: race has never been something I’m aware of. Sure, it may be because I’m (currently) apart of the majority race. But even when I’m surrounded by my boyfriend’s family…the only white person and one of the only people who can call English their first language…it’s still not something that I think of.

So back to my Disney story.

While waiting in line in Greece, a (white) woman came up to Kristen and said something to the effect of, “I see you and your friend are both in interracial couples. I think that’s great. I’m in one myself. I have a biracial son and my daughter is also in an interracial relationship.”

I was shocked. As someone who doesn’t have a second thought about these things, I was taken aback when it was mentioned.

I spoke to her after about how she and her entire family (interracial couples and all, gasp!) were sitting in an Idaho cafe when a gentleman came up to them and said something masked as a compliment, but actually an insult. I forget exactly what was said, but you can use your imagination. Something equal to the likeness of “Bless your heart” here in the South.

The more I’ve thought about it, the more I realize…interracial relationships are still seen as negative things by some people. There are articles out there about how to cope with the stares and gawking. Hell, I always thought it was people thinking “aww, they’ll make such cute babies one day!”

The reality is: some people still do see color. And you know what? It’s sad. Our cultural heritage is a beautiful, wonderful thing that should never be lost or forgotten. But at the end of the day, love is love and it doesn’t see color.

I want to know your thoughts about this. But keep it clean. If you have an opposing opinion, that’s fine; but negative and discriminatory comments will be deleted immediately.