Love and Race

What would your parents or other family members say if you brought home a person from a different race than yours and said you were in love with that person and thinking about marrying him or her?

I have confidence that my family would fully support me if I brought home someone of a different race. I know my parents, brother and sister would be very accepting and I think the rest of my family would, too, although I haven’t really talked with them about it. My parents have raised me to be accepting of people with a different background than me. After all, we are all one in Christ and He doesn’t see us as black or white. If I were to base my decisions on race, what kind of Christian would I be? Christianity emphasizes unity within the body of Christ.

I honestly don’t think this should even be an issue. I don’t think someone should be discriminated against because of their skin color. It’s simply a biological difference – their body produces a different color pigment than mine. Am I really going to treat them differently because of that? I understand that the cultural differences are also a factor, but how is that any different than being from a different part of the country? Would my family not accept someone because they were from the west coast versus the Midwest? I don’t think any of these reasons are sufficient for discrimination.

I think my family would ask questions about our relationship, but they wouldn’t be based on race. Instead, they would question my intentions in order to be sure I was ready for marriage and that he was the right man for me. These questions are independent of race.