Spring has sprung my darling Collegiettes! Love is in the air and spring romances are popping up like budding flowers, and they are all different colors, just like the flowers along 21st street. Huffington Post Weddings recently posted an article about how “interracial marriages in the U.S. have climbed to 4.8 million – a record 1 in 12,” which is a drastic difference from when our parents were wearing bell bottoms in 1967, and the Supreme Court had just unanimously declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional in the famous civil rights case Loving v. Virginia. At one point, interracial couples could be arrested and fined just for publicly loving someone of another race. It kind of reminds me of Pocahontas and John Smith, minus the cute raccoon Meeko and the peppy Disney songs. And while racism is still prevalent, I feel like performing a peppy Disney song for America’s clear progression. I also feel like singing a song for all of the different colored hands linked together walking down Speedway. Perhaps “Can you paint with all the colors of UT?” I’ve gathered some of my friends to get their take on the interracial relationship trend, because they seem more popular than UTexas Memes.
Lauren Murphey, a Caucasian Pre-Med Biology and Theater and Dance sophomore, has been dating Jeff Schmidt, who is half Filipino and half German, for over three years. (Photo 1)
Melissa Rosko, is a Caucasian senior in Theater and Dance, and her boyfriend Gabe Hernandez is a Filipino senior in Economics. They’ve been dating for five months. (Photo 2)
Rachell Wong is a Violin Performance junior who is half Caucasian and half Chinese; her boyfriend Bryan Hall is half white and half Persian. They’ve been dating for almost four months. (Photo 3)
HC Texas: Did you consider his race as a factor when you started dating?
Lauren: I didn’t consider his race as a factor because we were best friends before we started dating and our friendship just kept evolving and we started dating.
Melissa: I didn’t consider Gabe’s ethnicity when we started dating, I just thought he was a cute Catholic boy who asked me out to lunch after mass one Sunday.
Rachell: I didn’t really consider his race as a factor for dating him, but I liked the fact that he was mixed like me.
HC Texas: What have been some of the challenges of being in an interracial relationship? Did your parents or friends disapprove? Have you received weird looks in public?Â
Lauren: I think my parents had originally imagined me ending up with someone of my race but once they knew Jeff and how wonderful he was, his race wasn’t an issue. Some friends say inappropriate things but those people aren’t true friends because all of my real friends know how happy he makes me. As far as the public, I haven’t really noticed anything because it just doesn’t matter. They don’t know how amazing we are together.
Melissa: We haven’t experienced any social issues or disapproval from our families because we both share the same beliefs and values that make a relationship important. We got a few funny looks when we went to my friend’s wedding in a small, conservative East Texas town, but to my knowledge, that’s the extent of any racial problems we’ve had. We really don’t see ourselves based on race at all. In fact, we didn’t even consider the fact that we were a biracial couple until you brought it up!
Rachell: I don’t think there are any challenges. We are actually very similar since we both have one “Eastern” parent and one “Western” parent. We’ve found that we have the same ideals and habits. I think the only reason we’ve gotten weird looks in public is that he looks a lot older because he has facial hair and I look relatively young. But no one has disapproved because of our ethnicity.
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HC Texas: Have you had to adjust/get accustomed to any family traditions of his (that are associated with their race/ethnicity)?
Lauren: His family likes to throw big family parties and I am normally one of the only white girls there. His family is all very nice. He had a big surprise when he met all of my family, they are loud and crazy! He has told me before that he loves my family now which is a great thing to know.
Melissa: Language has been only a slight barrier around his family so far. They speak great English, but they also speak a lot of Tagalog.
Rachell: I think we both have a lot culturally in common so our family traditions are pretty similar. I am getting to experience a lot of good Persian food which is nice!
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HC Texas: What do you love about your guy/tell me a sweet and romantic thing he has done for you!
Lauren: I love him for so many reasons. He is sweet, smart, understanding, kind, cute, funny, etc. For our two year anniversary he gave me a necklace with two hearts connected and I have worn it every day since then. Other than that it is just little everyday things that make me smile like sending me texts that say “I love you,” sending me a picture of a heart he drew on his phone, or calling me to tell me he misses me.
Melissa: I love Gabe because he is so adventurous and aspires great things for his life, and he inspires me to do the same. Aside from the fact that we have the same sense of humor among a million other similarities and quirks, he is a huge sweetie pie. I was sick last week, so he tucked me into bed, gave me medicine and tea, and put on a movie while he sat with me. I love his selfless moments like that.
Rachell: The sweetest thing he has ever done was when he drove me to my concert in San Angelo, drove himself back the same night, and then drove six hours to see me play in the concert. And he brought me the prettiest flowers too. He is amazing!