What is wrong with dating a white man?

So, if it is true that love really is blind, why do we frown when see a Kenyan woman with a white man? Why do we look at the woman and automatically assume that she is a prostitute?

I am always shocked at the uproar and the negative emotions that such a couple stirs. I am in a healthy, happy ‘inter-racial’ relationship with a Caucasian man.

I have dated within my African ‘race’ and just like most relationships, they had the usual hiccups that are bound to come up between two grown-ups with different personalities and almost worlds apart in terms of background and upbringing.

However, even though I was dating a man of the same skin colour as mine, I could still sense the disapproval from both sides of the family if we happened to be from different tribes.

The attention I got

You can therefore imagine how much more attention I got when I started dating a ‘white’ man.

Which brings me to the million dollar question - why do mixed couples often generate so much heat? Could it be that we are brought up to believe that one culture is superior to the other, therefore mixing would be taboo?

Or could it be that even with all the diversity of people in the world, we still choose to see and accept people into our little social circles based on colour, rather than character and the similarities we share?

It was the first time for my boyfriend and I to date outside our race, and I say with all honesty that we forged the relationship absolutely clueless about how others will view our relationship.

We have been together for one-and-a-half years now, but we still attract stares and whispers wherever we go, including in restaurants.

Once in a while, we are subjected to rude comments, which we have learnt to laugh off, or joke about, as opposed to being defensive, and explaining to these judgmental people that we are together because we love each other.

An incident that really stands out early on in the getting-to-know-one-another stage was at an out of town car challenge, which we were participating in.

As we waited for the event to begin, a group of men behind us started to discuss us. One commented that I was only with him for the money, while another accused him of ‘stealing’ ‘their’ woman!

Instead of my boyfriend pulling back or being embarrassed by the ignorant comments, he simply leaned in and planted a big one on my lips, a bold act that shut them up. I noticed that some of the women who witnessed this affectionate gesture looked wistful.

A realisation that endeared him to me more

I am sure all the women who watched what has transpired must have been wondering if their men would have stood up for them in the same way.

I looked at my boyfriend differently from then on, and knew he would always be in my corner no matter what, a realisation that endeared him to me more!

What am I getting at? Whether you are black or white, Muslim or Christian, Arab or Jewish, rich or poor, we are all people from one race - the human race, and it is your right to be with the person you love, and who loves you back.

Come on people, we’re in 2015, so take off your stereotyped lenses and start viewing people as human beings, not black or white.

When we bleed, what flows from our veins is red, not black or white. You will also agree with me that mixed race children are cute, aren’t they? And what’s more, they have the best of both worlds!