Final Blog: A call for action!!!

For the final blog I wanted to wrap up everything I have talked about with a challenge for everyone who has been following this blog. I have talked about everything from the legal aspects of interracial dating to the harships the couples face to some success stories I have highlighted. With this blog, I hoped to bring awarness to all of these issues and portray interracial relationships in a way that people can really understand. With that being said, my goal was to hopefully inspire everyone to take some action towards change. Because of the complexity and deep rooted issues associated with this topic, for change to occur, it will take effort from everyone. On a micro level anyone can influence change. By this, i mean, just by being more conscience of the way we think every day and the judgements we pass on people, we can work to break down the ignorant stereotypes that plague the interracial dating and marriage communities. If we can work to change the way we think and the way the people think around us in our everyday lives, there is hope for a more macro level change. Although, interracial dating and marriage is legal now and that aspect of the battle is over, there are still many things that need to change. My opinion is that the only way this change can occur is if we all work together. So my challenge to everyone is to work hard every day to change the way you think and lead by example.

Alvin and Omelia Garner: A story of success

I wanted my bloggers choice to highlight another success story of an interracial couple that faced many hardships during the first years of their relationships. Alvin and Omelia Garner met and married during the hist0ric battle over interracial marriage laws. They were among the first to marry in 1968 after the ban on interracial marriage was lifted due to the courage of the Lovings in Virginia. Alvin and Omelia were the first interracial couple in Orange county to ever be issued a marriage liscence, making their story extremely important. Aside from the legal battles Omelia and Alvin faced, they faced many of the same issues that interracial couples of today face. Alvin's family wanted nothing to do with Omelia because she was black andvirtually no one in the societies of their day accepted their relationship. Although, their obstacles were plentiful and not easy, the Garners pushed through it all knowing they wanted to spend their lives together. In June of this year, Omelia and Alvin had their 40th wedding anniversary where they proudly renewed their vows.

The reason I chose this couple to highlight this week is because they are living proof that true love and committment can withstand all troubles. They are a message to couples of all kind whether they be same sex, interracial, or a mix of ages that if you truly want to be with each other and the relationship is healthy.. GO FOR IT!! Life is too short for anyone to live or base decisions about their lives based on the ideals of the current trends in our nation. The best and most important things in life are worth fighting for. Omelia and Alvin fought to be together, and forty years later, it is still worth the fight to them. To read more about Omelia and Alvin and their ceremony or to read a newspaper article published about them in the 60's check out: http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_543_Interracial_Marriage.mp3/view

Interracial Dating: Still much opposition

Although there has been much progression in the acceptance of interracial dating, unfortunately, there are still some affluent members of our society that actively protest against it. Not only do they protest against it, but they do it in a way that is degrading to the black race and their history. One person I found that is a good example of this is Dr. Ed Fields.

Dr. Fields was born in 1932 and is a known white supremist and a member of the Klu Klux Klan. He was an activist in the neo-nazi movement. In addition, he preaches that the inter mixing of the white and black races is against god and will lead to the demise of civilization. He was a part of many Klan rallies.

To read more on Dr. Fields and his history follow this link: http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Fields.asp?xpicked=2&item=Fields

He created a whole article that talks about the low IQs of the black race and how disease runs ramped among their community. Of course, he thinks, this will only lead to the decreasing value of the white ( superior) race.This article was titled Interracial dating, Interracial Marriage, Judgement Day. This article was posted on a website called
The Truth at Last
Truth Tract: Dysgenics

To read this article follow this link: http://www.stormfront.org/truth_at_last/archives/interracial.htm

His ideas seem absurd to the average american today, but there are many who still feel this radically about the issue and are not ashamed to say it. I believe this is something people need to be aware of so that we can work more actively to disarm these extremists. There are plenty of experts that say that this sort of extreme opinion can only lead to violence and discrimination, therefore our nation needs to move away from this harmful way of thinking. Dr. Fields is just one of many extremists and anti- interracial dating activists. Many of these ideas do not focus on issues within an actual interracial relationship that would be harmful to either party, but rather, they focus on how inferior the black race is and how they are not good enough to be mixed with the white race. It is sad that there are still people in this country that believe this way; however, it is important that we are aware of them. In order to change a way a thinking that is harmful, we need to understand it and therefore we need to understand the thinking of these radicals. If we can understand them, perhaps we can help change them.

Interracial Dating Sites and Blogs

Within the interracial dating community there are many blogs and websites set up where people can come together to chat and share common experiences. Many are places where people can just share opinions on relevant issues and many have dating resources much like e harmony type sites. One site I found was the Interracial Dating Central Blog : http://www.interracialdatingcentral.com/blog/. This site is a mixture of various blogs as well as dating opportunities. One really interesting post was titled Interracial Datinig: getting personal.

August 14th, 2008
Interracial dating: getting personalPosted by James

I was going through various interracial dating articles the other day and I bumped into this comment. My first reaction was WTF! Are we ever going to get past black and white dating? Are we ever going to let Black-White interracial couples just be? Well this I had to share:

“I feel that interracial dating among minorities is fine, such as Black and Asian, or any other person of color. My problem with white and black dating is the history and also the way Black people are treated by White America still today. I believe the only reason Whites want to date Black people is to further divide our families and our communities, love has nothing to do with it. When Black men and women stood together, our communities were stronger, our children were better off as a whole and economically our communities were more vital. Please don’t be fooled by White people’s trickery anymore. And furthermore, in America there has always been interracial dating. This time Black women are not being taken behind the wood shed, they are making the decision to be with White men. How can sleeping with the enemy be beneficial to any person of color? … The majority of White people in this country are still racist, even the ones who date outside of their race. Talk to some of the people who have married Whites, especially the White women are the most racist of them all. She hates Black women and loves the Black man?”

Since this person is saying black-black dating made the black communities stronger, I believe he or she also means dating Whites makes the communities weaker. And if this person is for interracial dating within minorities, how does that make the Black community any stronger? I thought interracial dating is interracial dating. The composition doesn’t matter. Should we really be dragged behind by the history of slavery? uuuuuuughhhhhhh!!! Snap out of it!
Enough about my opinion. What do you think?

The general consensus on the blogger was total disagreement. It was a pretty equal number of whites and blacks who responded to the woman's blog, and all were angry. I thing that i found so interesting was how hyprocritical the woman was. She could not stop talking about how racist white people still are when she was clearly a pretty extreme racist herself. This was evident in her sleeping with the "enemy" comment. She thinks of white people as the enemy. In addition to her being racist towards white people in general, she was very degrading of blacks as well. She is saying that black people who date whites are being tricked and completely unloved by their white significant others. This to me, seems to imply that a black person who dates a white person is not intelligent enough to see when they are being tricked, or lack self worth for putting up with. How insulting to both parties!!! However, even though there are some questionable bloggers on this site, the whole point is that people have a place where they can express their opinions freely. Even though her opinion is widely disagreed upon, she still has the right to voice her beliefs.

The site offers stories of sucess for online daters, most popular blogs, and relevant information. Its a good place to go to read up on recent controversy and meet people with similar backgrounds.