By: Jonathan Franklin, Senior Writer

It is the year 2016 and interracial dating is something that is not uncommon within our generation of millennials. Whether or not dating someone outside of your race has always been a factor in terms of finding your next beau, the thought of having a significant other outside of your race is a concept that is still uncommon for many, leaving several questions unanswered as to why interracial dating is frowned upon.

“Most people have an issue with it because they feel like their particular race is being ‘taken’ from them, or the fact that black men will put white women on a pedestal while saying that they would never date a black girl,” says freshman Chris-Marie Mensah.

Senior Alex Bidgood, currently in an interracial relationship, has a similar opinion in terms of why race should be a factor when it comes to dating.

“It’s unfortunate that people feel the need to decide whether they are ‘for or against’ this topic. When people are asked to take a side, it turns the topic into an issue for which a side must be taken,” says Bidgood.

Many students like Bidgood who are in interracial relationships often times face backlash from their peers, persons who they do not know or oftentimes their parents.

“While raising my sisters and me, my parents told us that we were free to love anyone we wanted, regardless of sex or race. I never felt the need to inform them that I was dating a person of a different race before they met my boyfriend. I have had experiences when other people have asked me how my parents feel about the fact that I am in an interracial relationship, which I have found to be offensive,” says Bidgood.

Senior Nicole Carpenter agrees with Bidgood.

“I am definitely for interracial dating. I am currently in an interracial relationship and think that there are definite perceptions that people have about it, but growing up I was never told that anyone was any different than anyone else, so it never really felt like interracial dating,” says Carpenter.

With the media and other forms of popular culture featuring characters pursuing interracial relationships such as: Olivia Pope and Fitzgerald Grant in ABC’s “Scandal,” Annalise Keating and Sam Keating in ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder” and Bonnie Bennett and Jeremy Gilbert in CW’s “The Vampire Diaries,” it addresses the stereotypes toward those in an interracial relationship and opens up conversation regarding prejudices toward those in interracial relationships.

“I honestly don’t know why couples in interracial relationships experience prejudice today, but I would be curious to ask someone’s reasoning if they expressed disapproval for interracial couples,” says Bidgood.