Thursday, August 23, 2012

Interracial Couples in Baton Rouge- Racism Versus Racial Anxiety

I have been following the Baton Rouge Advocate's series on interracial marriage with some interest.

One of the couple vids sort of through in a new dynamic that I find interesting and useful. That is a a white "Dutch" male from Iowa that met a Nigerian that was attending college there. Now they live in Baton Rouge . Click on the James and Bukky Harthoon vid. I think this is a cool vid because they are sort of giving an outsider viewpoint. I also get this couple is a tad different too because the wife really is an AFRICAN American.

What I found interesting among many things were his comments at the end. That is what perhaps seems the problem is not racism but the overwhelming "Racial Anxiety" by folks down here. He is not saying racism does not exist nor do people have to be colorblind. However there is such a nervousness about the topic or race or even calling someone "black" without being deemed racist that its gets  perhaps tiresome.

2 comments:

Rick67 said...

Ah yes - Have had the pleasure of knowing them for several years. They were involved in my little parish for a couple years. Recently wrote a recommendation for James. Thanks for bringing this up.

James H said...

Oh that is cool u know them They seem like such a nice couple too. It was a refreshing video