Interracial dating in 2017

Michel Eugene and his girlfriend | Photo credit: Mahogany Miles 

2017 marks 50 years since the Loving vs. Virginia supreme court case in 1967, which banned laws against interracial marriage.

The case included an African-American female, Mildred Jeter, and a caucasian male, Richard Loving, who got married in 1958 outside of Virginia, and eventually got caught by local Virginia police in the same year.

Currently, on June 12 of every year, we unofficially celebrate Loving Day, where interracial couples can publicly flaunt their relationships. After the verdict of the Loving vs. Virginia case, the amount of interracial marriages and relationships increased.

Despite the fact that it appears as though the amount of interracial relationships has increased, there are still many people in the world that appear to be against it, like Tia Bolden.

Bolden is an electrical engineering graduate student who expressed her dislike when noticing an interracial couple in public.

“When I see an interracial couple, I feel disrespected, unhappy and completely bothered…I think it's degrading to those who are full breed of their race,” Bolden said.

In 2017, some may wonder why interracial dating is still a topic of conversation. Equality and freedom is regularly preached through former presidents, such as Barack Obama, and past activists, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clarissa Ferdinand, a first-year pre-pharmacy student, does not see why interracial dating is a problem. Like many others, she believes in harmony and thinks that people are still stuck in the past.

“I don’t think negative about it, everyone has their soul mate out there somewhere. Why does it matter? The issue can be with slavery, back then…those kinds of people harmed them back then. They keep it in their heart and they don’t let it go,” Ferdinand said.

According to Ferdinand, the world is changing and every white person is not a racist, ultimately, she believes interracial couples are beautiful.

“Every white person isn’t racist, that’s a stereotype. Interracial couples are beautiful. I don’t focus on skin color. I believe it’s older people. They don’t realize the

Tia Bolden | Photo credit: Tia Bolden 

world is changing, and it's not how it was back then,” Ferdinand said.

Slavery is a very sensitive topic that heavily correlates with why certain people may be against interracial dating. African Americans were under the enslavement of white Americans for approximately 245 years. Because of the constant turmoil and continual struggle that African Americans had to face, many people believe that white Americans cannot understand the struggle of African Americans.

Michel Eugene, a freshman psychology student, is completely against interracial dating. Ever since the recent release of the feature film ‘Get Out,’ Eugene has admitted to be even more paranoid of dating outside his race because they are less understanding.

“She has to be a black woman,” Eugene said. “I feel as if interracial dating is unacceptable because you cannot connect to them [as an African-American] the way you can with someone in your race.”

Regardless, because of the Loving vs. Virginia case, people now have the freedom to date and marry freely, never minding race.