Forum examines interracial dating

Pi Psi fraternity members sponsored an event at Trotter House last night to discuss dating - but it didn't have anything to do with finding girls for their next date party.

Instead, the fraternity sponsored an open forum on interracial dating last night during which more than 30 University students shared their opinions and experiences on the subject.

The majority of participants who vocalized their beliefs spoke favorably about interracial dating.

"If you're limiting yourself to just one race when there's so many other races around, I think there's something wrong," Medical second-year student Jonathan Morrow said.

LSA sophomore Monique Plaza said differences in race should not prevent potential relationships.

DHANI JONES/Daily LSA sophomores Alisa Claeys and Sylvie Reoma, LSA junior Jeremiah Sim and LSA senior Rajal Pitroda listen during the interracial dating forum last night.

"If you're lucky enough to find someone on this campus who you click with - which doesn't happen that often - it doesn't matter what color you are," Plaza said. "You should go for it."

But not everyone promoted interracial dating.

"Something like 44 percent of black women do not go on to have meaningful relationships in their lives because so many black men are in jail or playing professional sports," Kinesiology junior Vanessa Terry claimed. "We just get mad because white women have such a huge selection of white men."

A few students suggested that interracial relationships, particularly those involving black men and white women, are not based on love, but on using the relationships as symbols of status.

"I get the vibe that most black men on this campus are not dating white women because they are in love with them," Kinesiology junior Channing Bennett said.

Students who agreed with Bennett suggested that a surprisingly large number of powerful, famous black men date white women.

Some participants expressed their beliefs that while black men frequently seek out and become involved in relationships with white women, relationships between white men and black women are rare.

"You see black guys with white girls every day," Terry said. "But you only see a black girl with a white guy every once in a while. I don't see white men as an option."

LSA senior Kevin Jones said that while he supports others who choose to be in interracial relationships, he prefers to date women of his own race.

"I'm a black man and I love being a black man," Jones said. "There's nothing wrong with me just wanting to date black women.

"Why can't race be a preference just like height or weight? Some people prefer tall people or skinny people, so I don't see why race can't be a preference," he added.

Students involved in interracial relationships said their private lives frequently become public against their will.

"If you walk down the street with someone of the same race, you don't get the stares and the looks," Rackham student Dorothy Jones said. "But when you're with someone of a different race, everyone all of a sudden has an interest in your life."

Discussion at the forum was not limited to issues of interracial dating. Participants also talked about their feelings on racism in general.

"Everyone wants to be able to put you in their little box to define what you should be," Engineering junior Naydja Bell said. "Hopefully one day we'll get to a point where race doesn't even matter."

04-15-99