Okay, so I've just started dating this girl who is black, and I'm a 22 year old white male, in a Southern Ontario city in Canada; the demographics for this region and the city itself is 94% white, anglo-saxon, protestant...with the rest of the population being mostly Native, and Middle-Eastern. (Blacks account for about 1% of the pop here)While I personally don't have a problem with this; I am aware of how things like this are viewed in my home-town (Mostly because of the rarity of other races, and the even rarer interracial dating mix), and possibly in my family. No one in my family is aware of her yet, though. Granted, they TRY to be open minded, but my father has rather negative views on people of other races (not KKK racist; but he has some untrue views) and even my sister (The poster-child for the Aryan Female) who also makes jokes that weren't meant to offend, but do. This girl is very respectful, pleasant to be around, is social, great sense of humour, has a wonderful personality, well educated, and her parents are prominent-hard working people; but I can't help by feel apprehension and even fear to tell my family about this woman.Any advice (especially from those who have had interracial/religious relationships and have dealt with the family)
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Interracial complication: possible family issues
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I would say that you shouldn't expect too much from your family. They are going to look at her and wonder weird things about her. She will feel awkward and probably disrespected, depending on the way your family acts towards her. Also, you have to be confident being with her around your family. If your family sense that you are nervous about her being around them, then they will be nervous. Finally, if they tell you that you can't date her, tell them that you are a grown man and you will choose to date whomever you want. Don't let them get the upper hand in telling you who you're going to date. Establish the fact that you like her in a confident way and they will be able to respect your decision.
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I have a sister and brother-in-law who are in an interracial relationship/marriage and they've had their hard times but they've gotten through it. His family were like... extreme Italians/Australians and his dad was like the biggest racist you'd ever meet... and Catholic. I think it took my sister a couple of weeks to break through to him but he now calls her "daddy's little girl" lol major change from when they first met. She used to come home crying sometimes almost sending my dad up the wall with a rifle in one hand and a pitchfork in the other lol. Sometimes it's hard dealing with interracial relationships. But if you really like this girl then just take it one step at a time. Make sure you tell your family first and let them get used to the idea before introducing her or whatever so she doesn't end up getting herself hurt in the process. I figure every family makes jokes about other races or their own. When my brother-in-law came to family's dinners my brother was infamous for his black/white/hispanic jokes. So if your family is not extreme then don't worry about it. Hope everything works out. :smile:
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Now to be totally fair; at this point the 'relationship' is in its infancy at best; but that was one of my first thoughts; thanks for the help thus far.