Here is an article I wrote to the Chicago Tribune (Evanston Local) in August, 2013 entitled Interracial Romance Novels - Not a "Fad":

In the wake of the success of ABC's soap drama SCANDAL, there seems to be a heightened awareness of interracial relationships, especially those involving black women and non-black men. Although these types of relationships may seem like "something new" (referencing a movie a few years ago), actually this pairing, as well as other racial pairings, are hardly new and have existed since men of various lands found means to sail to other hemispheres and encounter the "foreign" women living there. Even in the early years of America, before slavery became fully entrenched, black and white indentured servants paired off without thought of "race." Only later were laws enacted to prohibit interracial pairings seemingly to create a hierarchy to bar wealth distribution to non-whites.

Although these discriminatory laws have effectively been nullified, today's society has yet to fully embrace the diversity of men and women loving across ethnic, religious and racial lines. Case in point, the hullabaloo that erupted in the wake of the Cheerios commercial depicting an interracial couple (BM/WW) and their adorable bi-racial daughter. Yes, there have always been those with racial animus but the eruption took even the company by surprise to the point that they had to disable the comments for their Youtube upload.

Why the push-back? Well, hatred cannot be legislated away, unfortunately. Even with laws in place, rancor will survive in some hearts. But, fortunately, love can ameliorate some of the hate. Read the rest of the article.