As the Three Dog Night songs says "The world is black, the world is white. It turns by day and then by night." Having been in a mixed relationship for many years, I quickly learned the difference between black and white in our society. Yes, I was naive. Very quickly I learned that I had no clue of anything related to race within our society - not a big surprise with me being a white guy. Being together irritated so many with no shortage of opinions, stares and comments. It was a shock in every sense of the word. I lost many so-called friends family, and all I can say is good-riddance. There were threats and a few fights, but we persevered. The backlash never came from who I suspected and that has been a constant in life - people always surprise me or rather my pre-conceived notions (prejudices?) are usually wrong. It colored (no pun intended) every aspect of life - we were always aware of surroundings; avoided certain areas; travel/vacations were in large cities with more diversity and so forth. Relationships are hard enough by themselves, the added scrutiny does not help. A byproduct of the experience is more compassion for all others not following a traditional path. Life is hard and people are doing their best to survive the daily grind and find happiness - live and let live.
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