Melissa DePeaza
Melissa DePeaza finds it hard to believe someone complained to her church about her parents’ marriage because they are of different races.
When my parents go out, I don’t notice anyone looking at them funny for being an interracial couple. In my eyes, my parents are relatively normal. My dad has told me however where there have been instances where people have stared, reacted negatively and even gone to the pastor of our church and complained that their relationship is not of God.
My mother, who is half white and half east Indian, grew up in post-apartheid South Africa. She says that her side of the family still had that discriminatory mentality when she and my black father were engaged. But because they are happily married, I’ve always believed that love transcends skin color. That’s why I’ve dated guys of other races and just assumed that no one cared. But I know that’s not always true even for my generation. Some of my black guy friends think, “I can date a white girl but I can’t marry her.” That’s nonsense to me because isn’t dating the act of looking for someone to marry? What importance does skin color have?
What really matters is who they are on the inside. I think sometimes people are afraid of what their parents or peers might say if they date someone outside of their race. But my parents are a great example of why that doesn’t matter. In our house, “race doesn’t matter” is not just a slogan, it’s a reality.
