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From: tron@fluke.UUCP (Peter Barbee)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Re: Interracial Dating
Message-ID: <754@vax1.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 10-Oct-84 10:26:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax1.754
Posted: Wed Oct 10 10:26:08 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Oct-84 04:29:20 EDT
References: <3860@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, WA
Lines: 41

I just thought I'd get my 3 cents in on this kids from interacial couples
discussion.

A very good friend of mine's true parents are both black, when she was
quite young her parents divorced and within a short time had both remarried.
Both of these step-parents are white (actually they are both Scandinavian
immigrants, but I digress).  Considering that Jane (not her real name, which
isn't Ruth either) has a very dark complexion while her real mother (whom
she mostly lived with) has a light complexion it was blatantly obvious
to anyone meeting the family that Jane's heritage is unique.

Did this cause problem's in Jane's life?

No, it caused her to view herself as a person, the potential equal of
anyone else, rather than as a woman or as a black woman.  This attitude
is different from the attitudes most of us hold. (I'm refering now to
the stereotypical socialization process that most of us experianced,
where men are men and women belong in the kitchen) I find that she is
more of a liberated woman than anyone else I know.  Obviously this is
not all do to her atypical upbringing, but it does show that having
parents of different races is not an automatic disadvantage.  In fact
having interacial parents may be an advantage because they are
verifiably non-racist and willing to "buck the system".  Jane attempted
to write a story about interacial couples expecting to find complaints
about discrimination but was unable to do the story for three reasons
1) the couples she talked to didn't really notice much discrimanation
2) the couples didn't see their story as newsworthy
3) the couples felt their problems had nothing to do with their different
races (different backgrounds perhaps, but not skin color).
Admittedly this doesn't say a great deal about these people but it
certainly doesn't disqualify them as parents.

These are my opinions, but probably mine alone.

Peter Barbee

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