LOVE IS NOT A RACE, DON’T COLOR IT

May 03, 2018

About seven years ago, I was going through CNN’s website and I stumbled upon a very shocking news, one which cringed me and held me paused in unbelievable astonishment; a young lady named Janna Lynn Imel, who was in a wonderful, romantic relationship with her lover, who happened to be black. Being a white woman, an American, one wouldn’t expect there to be any form of friction in their relationship due to the rapid increase and acceptance of interracial relationships. In her case it was different. She was bitterly scolded by her very close friends and family, it was really serious to the extent that some of them stopped talking to her and showed disrespect to her black lover. In her own words, she said, "Racism is not dead, as many people believe. It still exists in our lives every day and it's time that more people take a stand."

Love is not a race, why color it?

Human feelings and need for care, affection and love is not tagged to a certain race or color, neither does it hang freely on the hinge of a particular group of people. Love is dynamic, anyone can fall in love with anyone, and it has to be known that interracial love affair has been proven to have an even deeper connection than the normal conventional relationship between people of the same race.

It is normal to have a parent concerned about their daughter or son, when it comes to interracial dating, perhaps because of the generalized perception, which could not be more wrong, but it must be said, that everyone deserves a chance to love and be loved. Most of the time it is not out of concern but open dislike for colored individuals. I am sure every book reader will agree with me that the front design and title of a book does not always justify or give the slightest clue to what we can likely find inside and many have learned this the hard way, letting go of people and things that actually matter because of their preconceived judgment of the person from the outward appearance, in this case, color. We do not choose whom we fall in love with or vice versa. Life is full of surprises and this is the spice, the intrigue we live daily for, that exciting unexpectedness of what happens next!

Do not miss the point! This article is not another racism tackling piece, at least not entirely, rather, it aims at bringing to the fore, how racism is affecting wonderfully woven interracial relationships across the globe and how couples are going through tough times because of their interracial affair from friends and families alike. Situations like that of Janna still happens and it is about time the world knew about it, at least for those who had little knowledge it still does. To build a better future for our children, we must teach them to love and accept people, regardless of their religion, race, or whatever differences exists. Our strength and perhaps the best way of loving, is in our diversity!