What do you think of interracial couples?

Originally Posted by DarkLink2135

Mexicans in general just have waaaay more respect for their families than white people do.

You've never met a true Italian, have you?

This thread is extremely interesting to me because nearly every single person posting to it is one hundred percent supportive of interracial relationships, but my entire town (everyone within a five mile radius, about) is passionately opposed to it. My neighborhood is completely white. The surrounding area, however, is Queens, New York, and you don't really find more of a mixture of races and cultures anywhere else.

I am personally not opposed to interracial couples. Three years ago, when it was much less common, I might have stared for a minute, but nowadays they're so commonplace that it doesn't phase me at all. I was, however, raised in a very narrow-minded white neighborhood. in a tight-knit family with old-fashioned values - purity being a very important one. In short, if I ever fell in love with someone who wasn't white, my father and grandfather probably wouldn't show up to the wedding. Because of the repercussion I'd suffer with the family, and the value I've come to place on cultural integrity (in my case, Italian) in America, I cannot see myself, personally, in a relationship with someone from another race, but I have no problem with people who can. Kudos to them for jumping over the social barriers and finding happiness.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by PUG1911

3 years? I find it pretty interesting that New York has only recently seen an increase in such relationships. It's been common as dirt in my nearest city for a very long time. Are you sure it's not just that you are seeing more of the world, or at least noticing things more for what they are rather then the stories you were fed from a racist upbringing?

The estimate of three years was inaccurate, please pardon my poor perception of time. I went to a high school of which the population was around 20% white, and I've had plenty of exposure.

There's a difference between "racist" and "not seeking an interracial relationship." If I were racist, my best friends wouldn't be Indian and Japanese. Which they are. True, I was brought up in a household/town where interracial marriage is strongly discouraged, but compared to the people I was raised around, I am pretty open-minded. When you grow up in such a strict environment, though, it takes a while for your values to change, and I've made some progress in the past few years. Five years from now I might be eating my words and dating somebody of a different race, regardless of what my family thinks. But this is where I stand right now. I currently like my family enough to stick to white guys.

As far as purity is concerned, I think I put out the wrong idea on why/how much I care about it. A) I don't have anything against people of mixed races, and B) I don't mean to say "if you're not white then you're no good." If I sounded that way, I apologize. All I was trying to say was that if your family has maintained a pure lineage since coming to America, no matter where you came from - be it Japan, India, Africa, Mexico, etc. - then go you. That's cool just because it's so rare in this country nowadays. It's not so much a value, like I misphrased it, but rather, a simple feature that would be fun to keep if you could.

Now to sum up. I am not against interracial relationships. I am not racist. I just know it would be very hard to make one work out in my personal life, because of all the problems it would cause later.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by nadienne

Out of curiousity, are you equating "true" Italian with being involved in the mob?

Ha. No.

Originally Posted by PUG1911

Indeed there is. Just as there is a difference between discouraging a thing, not choosing to partake in said thing. If your neighbourhood discourages it, that is racist.

Well, that's definitely the attitude of the neighborhood in general. They can be pretty disgusting.

Originally Posted by PUG1911

You also bring up the 'white' race issue again. I mean, Italians can be quite different than say, Germans, etc. Would your neighbourhood take issue with these relationships, or only those where it is a non-white involved? What about dark skinned Italians with light skinned Italians?

They pretty much draw the line at non-white.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.