Some more racial ranting, the good kind!

Yesterday when I wrote the post "The Black Elephant in the Room" I never imagined that it would receive so much praise and so much attention. I wrote it to get things off my chest and if a few people read it, great. If they didn't, that was okay with me too. My blog has always been the place that I really let myself go and allow all of my thoughts and feelings to trickle out. Sometimes, I even say more to my blog, than to my closest friends. Yesterday I covered a few irritations of being in a biracial relationship and how others treat me in my marriage and cause hurt and pain.

Today, I decided to take a different point of view and point out just a few of the amazing blessings of being in a biracial relationship.

Blessing #1: The children in my life are approached with diversity.

I have a lot of children in my life. I have my friend's kids who I adore, my nieces and nephew who I can't get enough of, and many kids that I tutor on a regular basis. These kids, for the most part, have all met Anthony. They all love him and admire him. I don't know how you could not love him and admire him if you know him at all. These kids, who otherwise may never know a person of color personally, have gotten to know Anthony and are faced with a real version of someone instead of a stereotype right out of the gate. Many of these kids are very young and that is a great time for them to form the ability to judge someone not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character!

Blessing #2: I get to be happy!

One of the things that has been true about me for longer than I remember and passed down to me for years is that I have always been attracted to people darker skinned than myself. (Which I should note, includes a lot of people since I am the hue of Elmer's Glue) As a little girl, I would only allow my mom to buy me black baby dolls and all of my Barbies were the "Malibu" edition which is another way of saying "A Barbie of Color." I loved all things in black culture. I preferred R&B music, Black Comedy movies, and always thought that the black guys in school were clearly the hottest! :) That is just who I am. Since that is true, it would hardly have been profitable for me or a white man to date or be married because my attraction level would have been low at best. We all prefer something in the people we date whether it is long hair/short hair, blonde or brunette, tall or short, skinny or curvy, etc... I preferred dark skin. I still prefer dark skin. I am not ashamed of this, I am not sad about this. I am happy. I look at my husband and am more attracted to him daily. I almost can't wait for his salt & pepper hair as he gets older. I love that man with everything in me but it doesn't hurt that I think that he is the finest thing that has ever been made either! :)

Blessing #3: The culture I get to be a part of

There is a whole culture out there of people who are married and in biracial relationships. We understand each other, we support each other, and we cheer each other on in the face of roadblocks. I am so lucky in that my family has always supported everything I have ever done but some are not so lucky. Some families do not approve of their children marrying outside of their racial identity and some even disown their children for these choices. I was raised in a family who not only taught me to be tolerant of other's physical differences but also their differences of sexual orientation, lifestyle, religion, politics, and socioeconomic status. I was never a bully and gladly, never really bullied either. There is a whole culture of those of us who fell in love with someone who looks different than us by skin color but treat us like we should be treated. I am happy to be a part of that group of people. This includes all of you who are reading this who are my friends (Sophia, Paula, Susan, etc...)

Blessing #4: Anthony James Lewis

There is no other man for me in the world. This one was ordained by Jesus Christ to be my husband and it turns out he is black! Those are the facts and those facts are blessings

I hope that you all have a great day and let's be honest....I have a lot more of the negative ranting to do but....I wanted to rant in a good way today.

P.S. If any of you who are with me on this stuff want to guest post for me and write about your experience of being a part of a biracial marriage, I would love to have you! It's always good to get different viewpoints on where we can grow as humans

"When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. (I have a dream speech)