The 'Color-Mute' Generation

When I was 16, I dated an African American guy who I met at a music festival in downtown Nashville. He was modeling for Benetton in the store's outdoor fashion show — interracial dating was (and probably still is) a big deal in the south. I think in my own twisted teenage mind, the fact that he was so good looking overwrote any reservations I may have had about dating him publicly.

We dated for a little over a month, and during that time, I felt like we were both attempting to assimilate into each other's worlds, which were very different. I remember being in the car on a "double date" with his cousin and his girlfriend listening to slow jams they all knew the words to and I didn't. We went to the movies at a theater where lots of black kids hung out, and I had the experience of black girls staring me down and the sense that I was somewhat of a status symbol for my boyfriend amongst his black male friends. We watched one of the "Friday the 13ths" and while I sat covering my eyes and ears, the rest of the theater yelled at the stupid white people getting slaughtered.

When we went to parties where my friends were hanging out listening to alternative or punk music, I think he also felt out of place, too. I wish I could say more about his side of the relationship, but I was so caught up in myself, I actually don't know what he thought. In Nashville in the 80s, it felt like black and white were literally two separate worlds and cultures. I was just there this past weekend, and frankly it didn't feel that different.

According to a big story in USA Today, all of this has changed with the "Millennials." From the article:

"A Gallup Poll on interracial dating in June found that 95% of 18- to 29-year-olds approve of blacks and whites dating. About 60% of that age group said they have dated someone of a different race."

The gist of the story is similar to a post I wrote a while back about Crossing Color Lines Through Consumerism in that it covers the debate over whether this generation, while more diverse and more open, is truly color blind or "color-mute." More from the article:

"Rebecca Bigler, 42, a psychology professor who directs the Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab at the University of Texas-Austin, traces such attitudes to baby boomer parents who may have set a tone for raising colorblind kids.

'It makes us feel racist if we acknowledge race, so we try not to, and we end up being color-mute,' she says. 'Children learn from their parents that you don't talk about race….Society is still marked by racial inequality, and my worry is that it won't get addressed,' she says."

So while more teens from different backgrounds are hanging out together and even dating, some academics worry that they seem to be oblivious to the racial inequality that still exists:

"In 2003, 17% of students said they were "never concerned" with hunger and poverty, compared with 7% in 1976. And on race, 27% were 'never concerned' three years ago, compared with 13% surveyed in 1976." - research from Tyrone Forman, an associate professor of African-American studies and sociology at the University of Illinois-Chicago

I'm curious about how much the actual interracial dating experience (like the one I described when I was 16) has changed for teens, especially in southern or midwestern cities…

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