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Amy-Strange

(854 posts)
Sun Jun 14, 2020, 11:00 PM Jun 2020

I'm A Black Woman With A White Man. These Have Been The Hardest Weeks Of Our Relationship.

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I'm A Black Woman With A White Man. These Have Been The Hardest Weeks Of Our Relationship.

Going into any relationship as a biracial woman, I know one thing: Any serious relationship will involve discussion of the issues of racism.

That became even more crucial when I became serious with a white man. There were days I had lived as a Black woman that he would never live through or could imagine living through.

Since the beginning of our relationship, there have been times when the undertones of racism have escaped him. Like that one restaurant where other couples without reservations got seated before us. Or when our former real estate agent told us to stay away from the neighborhoods we were interested in because they weren’t filled with the “safest people.”

Neither of those situations sounded any alarms for him. But as a person of color who grew up in neighborhoods such as the ones that agent deemed unsafe or who gets “Pretty Woman” syndrome in half of the restaurants she steps into, the alarms were deafening for me.

Still, the door of understanding was never hard to crack open when a learning opportunity presented itself. No, it wasn’t my responsibility to educate him on the Black experience. But he was a man who loved every person he met, who believed “everyone should be equal,” and yet couldn’t understand how some people in this world didn’t need a logical reason to be cruel. So I chose to enlighten him with stories, articles, speeches and podcasts.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/voices/i-m-a-black-woman-with-a-white-man-these-have-been-the-hardest-weeks-of-our-relationship/ar-BB15o8Sj?ocid=msedgntp
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