When it comes to dating, Kristen Vince is colorblind.
She said she does not see people as colors or races – only as human beings.
Her interracial relationships have been hampered by her family’s flagrant racism, but she said their ignorance has only inspired her to embrace all people with an open mind.
Thomas Durant, sociology professor, said fewer people date interracially in Louisiana than any other state in the country.
Durant said the trend can be attributed to the state’s history of institutionalized racism and historical opposition to ending segregation.
Vince, allied health sophomore who is white, said her first love was a boy who was half black. She dated him secretly for almost two years before the constant interference of her parents wore down their relationship.
Vince said her boyfriend lived with a white family, and she tried to tell her parents that he was Creole, but they knew she was lying.
“When my stepdad found out, he tried to move me two hours away,” Vince said.
Vince said her parents forbade her to go watch his football games because he played at an all-black high school.
As time passed, Vince said she could no longer ignore her family’s racist attitudes.
“I got insecure about our relationship,” Vince said. “We were always sneaking around. If he couldn’t really be with me, then maybe he could be happier with someone else.”
Vince said that if her family had not pressured her to break up with him, she probably would still be with her boyfriend.
“My mom told me if I ever married a black man, she wouldn’t come to my wedding,” Vince said.
She said her father and her stepfather’s sides of the family would both disown her if she ever married a black man.
Vince has seen how her family treats relatives who marry outside their race.
Vince said her aunt is married to a black man, and she is no longer invited to family functions.
The only family member who accepted her relationships with blacks was her grandmother who died this year, Vince said as she began to cry.
Vince said her family’s uncompromising position against interracial relationships has left her torn between her loyalty to her family and her disdain for their ignorance.
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t want to betray my family,” Vince said. “But you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
Vince said she has a black friend who told her he is interested in dating her, but she has resisted because she is afraid to get into a relationship that her family would not like.
“It feels like I’m being prejudiced,” Vince said.
Vince said while she is disappointed in her family’s ignorance, she knows that she will become a better person by learning from their mistakes.
“Sometimes I wish for a perfect family, but I’ve learned so many things through their mistakes,” Vince said. “I’m fortunate that way.”
Cassi Burdick, music education and performance sophomore who is white, is a friend of Vince and also dates interracially.
Burdick grew up in Dallas where she said interracial dating was common.
Durant said interracial relationships are more common in metropolitan areas in the North, Midwest and West.
“Where I was from, we don’t look at the other people as ‘he’s black or he’s white,'” Burdick said. “We just look at the person as a person.”
When she moved to Baton Rouge, Burdick noticed people were more segregated.
“It’s really different here – like 20 years behind,” Burdick said. “There’s a lot of racial tension here.”
Burdick said it was an adjustment for her dorm mates to see her bring black boyfriends around.
“If I was to bring someone I was dating down the hall, all the girls would run to their rooms and say, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a black guy in the hallway,'” Burdick said.
Burdick said she thinks the reason people respond negatively to interracial dating is because racism was passed down in their families, and they were not exposed to other cultures.
“It makes me angry because I don’t understand how someone could look at you and say, ‘I’m better than you because I’m white or because I’m black,'” Burdick said.
Burdick said children need to learn about other cultures and races at an early age to foster tolerance.
Durant said that today interracial dating is “not nearly as taboo as it used to be” because racial attitudes are changing.
But Durant said he thinks that most people who say they are comfortable with others dating interracially would also say that it is not something they would want for themselves.
Durant said about 50,000 people have declared a multi-ethnic status in the U.S. Census, which indicates more interracial couples are getting married and having children.
He said the children of these relationships and people who travel internationally are more likely to engage in other multi-racial relationships because they are exposed to more cultures.
“People who have more of a world view are more likely to associate and accept others,” Durant said.
Durant said many people avoid interracial relationships because of concerns about how their family and friends would react.
“Most people conform to the norms of the groups,” Durant said. “They behave based on the expectations of the group.”
Several students said that while they would not be opposed to dating outside their race, they think their family might object.
Nita Clark, chemistry freshman who is black, said she has never dated someone outside her race, but she would not be opposed to it.
Clark said her family might have problems with her having a white boyfriend because of their past experiences with racism.
Jennifer Fanguy, general studies junior who is white, said she has never had an interracial relationship.
“I know a few people who would have a big problem with it – people in my family,” Fanguy said.
Demetra Andrepont, white mass communication sophomore who has engaged in several multi-racial relationships, said her parents were accepting of it but warned her of getting too serious.
“They just warned me if anything ever went further and we had children, what the children would go through,” Andrepont said.
Corey Lemelle, ISDS senior who is black, said his interracial relationship ended because of the racist views of his girlfriend’s father.
He said his father was more understanding, warning him that an interracial relationship might be “more trouble than it was worth to make it work.”
“I wish people were more accepting of it, but I don’t know how to go about changing that,” Lemelle said.
 
Contact Rebekah Allen at [email protected]