Are Interracial Relationships Ethnic Genocide?
First and Foremost im not against anyone finding love. A real true honest love is irreplaceable not matter what the color combination.
However, I have reservations about Interracial Relationships
My Big Homie Von dropped a jewel of a post on her blog Black Conscious Thought: Two Birds Killed With One Stone that i strongly suggest reading.
In her post Von characterizes Interracial relationships specifically black/white pairings as ethnic genocide. Now before you get mad listen to the reasons why...
An Interracial Child, the product of an Interracial relationship, often makes a choice between the two cultures that make up who he or she is. Von asserts that our culture and history as Africans in this country is under assault and to have biracial children who do not have the connection to their African heritage is ethnic genocide. This assertion is heavily predicated on Von's other caveat that this is due to the prejudice inherent to all white people.
Now if you thoroughly read Von's Post that i will link here again the you know she provided one heck of an example to prove her point.
Enter, Robert Reed III
This dude who is biracial (white mother, black father) basically outs himself and his immediate family as being incredibly backwards.
Von through the wonders of the internet catches Reed singing the praises of white women as the pinnacle of purity and perfection while dragging Black and Latin women through the dirt as well as how his Caucasian mother denigrated non white women.
Its quite a compelling story. And frankly I agree with a lot of what Von had to say. However i do disagree with her on two fronts.
Her assessment of Interracial relationships and Prejudice.
1. I believe everyone is prejudice against everyone else. Its just a matter of socialization. But inherent prejudice is not unto itself the problem. The problem is when we as people allow our prejudice to rule our actions and blur the line between right and wrong.
2. With that important distinction made Interracial Relationships are not the problem its the people in them. If a person decides that they are going to enter into an interracial relationship they have a duty to educate that child on ALL of who they are and encourage that child to embrace ALL of who they are and if your partner has an issue then clearly that is not someplace you need to be.
However in order to do that a person has to know of their culture and their heritage on both sides.
An Interracial relationship can work but one has to understand the implications to their community and the preservation of their culture or run the risk of creating more Robert Reed IIIs
Let it be known im a strong supporter of black love. I personally feel the best thing for a Black Man is a Black Woman. Which is why I have one of my own and she has me. That was my decision to make. I dont presume to tell anyone else to do with their love life. For those of yall who are mad, It might be time to look in the mirror and examine your life.
A Special Thanx to Von For letting me do this
2 comments:
i can agree with the points, but coming from an interracial relationship, i can also disagree. i had a great life with matt, and we did/laughed/enjoyed some of the similar past times. our downs were communication and the definition of a good family/ traditional roles. we had problems, with surprisingly, GENDER. because as anyone who knows me, knows... Read More that i like to wear "panties and pants." however, race wasn't a concern. if matt and i were to ever get back together, and venture to have children, i wouldn't worry about "which side" they'd choose. if your children are comfortable within themselves, and can find their own path, race doesnt matter. dont u hate it when... ignorant people say you "talk white?" and u say, "no, i talk right?" it touched that idea to me... yes, its hard raising interracial children [i,e: mariah carey who was so scared to go to school, my friend keri who was teased mercilessly] but it has its advantages [two viewpoints of the world... acceptance]. thanks
"for those of you who are mad, take a look in the mirror and exam yourself" sttoooopp... are you serious? sayin this to those who are "mad" about the silly notion of 'sticking with your own kind' and to those who embrace diversity and anything PAST the color of one's skin? Culture is one thing, skin tone is another and I'd prefer to neglect the latter all together. There isn't even a genetic thing such a race, don't get it twisted. This is just frustrating to even read.
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