<p>In 1983, when I married my white, German American (2nd generation) husband in Memphis, we were a pretty rare commodity, and people did a double-take whenever we went out together. We’ve lived in the Hampton Roads region of Va. for 25 years now, and I have to say, life is pretty pedestrian for us. Nobody looks sideways when we go out, as mixed race families are a dime a dozen. Our children both had a number of friends who, like themselves, were mixed race. They also had lots of friends are were all white, all black, or Asian. And this is still the case. </p>
<p>H has blue eyes. Neither of our children does. But given the fact that I appear to have at least one ancestor of Irish origin, the gene for blue eyes probably resides on both sides. We’ll have to wait and see what materializes. My kids have never shown a strong preference for race when it comes to dating. S needs someone somewhat nerdy/geeky, with a quirky sense of humor and a love of reading. D speaks fluent Japanese and is treated as an “honorary Asian” by the Asian members of her Kendo Dojo. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she eventually married an Asian American, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if she married someone black, white, or brown Hispanic. She just needs a critical thinker that appreciates world music, loves Star Wars, and prefers Japanese cuisine. They’ve both grown up to embrace the concept that compatibility is all about personality traits and similar values and convictions. It’s possible that blue eyes could reappear in my grandchildren. But it’s not concerning, one way or another.</p>
<p>^Haha @poetsheart I used to live in Memphis and my family also got double takes when we went out. Japanese mother and a German/Lithunian American father. We don’t have that problem in Nashville though.</p>
<p>Interesting about Nashville, southern charm. That would seem to say that Nashville is more socially progressive than Memphis. Do you think that’s true? How long has it been since you lived in Memphis? Is Nashville more racially diverse? </p>
<p>It’s interesting about America in General, in that your mileage may vary (often a great deal) depending upon where you live or travel. Hampton Roads has a Huge military presence (all branches), so people from every conceivable part of the country are constantly cycling in and out of the area on assignment. That greatly contributes to the diversity of our population. The military was the first major sector of American society to desegregate, thereby leading the way, I think, in many parts of the country as far as changing attitudes toward racial, social, and political tolerance. H and I met as Navy people, assigned at the Naval Air Station in Millington. We were much more viewed as odd birds outside of the base than in the immediate area surrounding it. </p>
<p>Outside The military bubble here (a fairly large bubble to be sure), one can drive 40 minutes to places you night not want to spend a lot of time if you’re a mixed family. I’m thinking of one particular town where there’s an enclave of white supremacists. One of its leaders was arrested not long ago for setting fire to a black church in that area. It’s a rather stark comparison to the existence of two popular mega churches a few miles from my house, whose congregations are very racially diverse. Nobody gives them any grief. </p>
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<p>This sort of thing confuses me because brown hair is supposed to be dominant, right? My mom’s parents both had brown hair, my mom had black hair. Both my parents have black hair, my sister has brown hair. It’s my understanding that neither of those are supposed to happen. </p>
<p>Hair isn’t controlled by just one gene. Varying shades and color can be brought down from past generations. Be cautious not to confuse genotype with phenotype. </p>
<p>@poetsheart Oh no, I loved Memphis, I’ll actually be moving back soon for school. I think Memphis just has less people moving there and the large majority of the families there are from traditional, established, southern families. There’s not a whole lot of asians to mix with even if they wanted to. It’s plenty progressive enough in my opinion, it just hasn’t caught up yet. I think as more and more people from other parts of the country move in, it will gradually become more and more mixed.The attention seemed to be out of surprise and was never negative, quite the opposite actually. The asian community that exists sticks to itself and doesn’t mingle much with the rest of the population so not a whole lot of mixing goes around. I got a lot of attention from guys because I was unique looking, so it’s not like they’re opposed to mixing, there’s just not a whole lot opportunities to do so. If you go to any of the colleges there, you’ll see a lot more interracial dating because the diversity creates the opportunity to do so. In Nashville, a lot of people are moving here from all over the country, so it’s population is shifting fast and becoming a whole lot more diverse. Asian and other race’s communities are much larger and “mingle” with the rest of the world, so interracial marriages are much more common. They seem to stick to themselves in Memphis for the most part. That said, last I visited Memphis I saw quite a few mixed race families so it’s getting there, it’ll just take time.</p>