Melissa Boyd

By Melissa Boyd (Whetsone Staff Writer)

Look at my Facebook profile picture. You can see me (the white girl) with my boyfriend (the black guy).

We have been together for five months, and despite how people may stereotype him, he is the best boyfriend I have ever had.

So why is it that people like to “express their concerns” to me? They tell me that he is going to beat me, cheat on me, or that the relationship just won’t work out.

Does skin color really matter that much?

Apparently to some people it does.

Discrimination toward interracial couples is still high, despite the recent Pew Research Center study that said, “Nearly one in seven new marriages in the U.S. are interracial or interethnic.”

The study was conducted with couples who have been married less than a year, and the data was published in June 2010. Although the study states that support toward interracial couples is stronger now than in the past, the discrimination is still there.

One person told me, that “black guys treat white women bad. He’s going to beat you, and you’ll be too scared to leave.”

That was when we first started dating.

But let me explain this.

My boyfriend is very gentle and loving, and has never laid a hand on me. He is sweet.

Also, white men beat women, too, and so do Hispanic, Asians, and so on.

There are also women who beat their male companions, so it really goes both ways.

“He’s going to cheat on you; all black men cheat, especially if it’s a white girlfriend because they’re not as physically attracted to you,” someone else told me a couple of months ago.

My boyfriend has not cheated on me, nor will he, and that has nothing to do with his race or my race.

Unfaithful spouses or significant others’ races are not relevant to them being unfaithful. Just because he’s black and I’m white doesn’t mean he’s more likely to cheat, or that I am. It really doesn’t correlate.

People have said that we will be selfish to get married and have children because our children will be discriminated against.

Hey, we’ve only been dating for five months, and these comments started earlier. It’s too soon for that.

Plus, if our kids are discriminated against, it will just make them stronger. They will be fighters and they will be survivors.

Our children would have the perfect blend of two cultures, and the diversity that is literally on their faces will be clear to everyone who looks at them, so they’re probably less likely to be racist themselves – something I pray to God my own kids would never become.