A anonymous 8Asians.com reader forwarded a link to The [Duke] Chronicle about this article, “Interracial duos find themselves in the minority:”
“In the giant melting pot that is America, racial lines are becoming blurred and even erased in some cases. Especially in college, students interact with people of different races and backgrounds on a daily basis. However, the idea of interracial dating is still foreign territory to many, and it has direct bearings on how mixed-race couples are viewed on campus…Sophomore Myles Recny wouldn’t necessarily agree. His initial attraction to ex-girlfriend, sophomore Rhea Kaw, was because of her different ethnicity. Coming from Australia, Recny had never dated an Asian before. “I’ve been accused of having yellow fever from my friends,” Recny said. “It’s pretty degrading to say… I think I was a little drawn to her exoticness.”…Yet, Duke’s environment creates unspoken barriers that are hard to defy. From the overshadowing hook-up scene to the presence of self-segregation, the established campus culture does not help interracial dating.“
Having gone to Duke for graduate school, I thought I’d comment on this particular article. If you read the full article, it goes on to interview those in interracial relationships and what initially attracted them to their partner. Myles Recny, whom I quote, did find his ex-Asian girlfriend “exotic,” [which I found odd, since there are plenty of Asians in Australia] yet others commented that race didn’t play a factor in their initial attraction. However, what I thought most interesting was the the article focused that the Duke campus culture did not foster interracial dating.
From past 8Asians postings, obviously, there have been some blog postings and plenty of reader comments on the topic of interracial dating, especially regarding Asian female-Caucasian male relations vs. Asian male-Caucasian female imbalance. Given a random sample of a multi-ethnic population, statistically – if love is racially blind – there will be interracial couples based solely on mutual attraction rather than any other sociological factors.
For those who may not know much about Duke – Duke is based in Durham, North Carolina – i.e. the South. Duke has about 12,000 students – approximately 6,000 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students. The Duke undergraduate population (Fall 2006) consisted of 10% African-American, 17% Asian-American, 7% Hispanic/Latino and 54% Caucasian. I can’t say how integrated or segregated the Duke undergraduate population was with much authority since I was a graduate student there, but I can definitely sense from my time there, as well as from the article, that racial boundaries do exist.
Also, there have also been traditional ethnic and social-economic tensions also between Duke University and the city of Durham, which especially exploded in the infamous 2006 Duke lacrosse team rape case – Duke being a traditionally rich, white run institution and Durham’s residents poor & black.
In a very multi-ethnic and fairly integrated Californian society, I am sure interracial dating is far more common and accepted on Californian college campuses than at Duke. Whether you believe this is a good or bad thing is your own individual opinion. Again, with the premise of love being racially blind, it appears that there should be more interracial dating at Duke than what exists currently due to the current campus culture, and the South in general. Any of you readers of 8Asians go to Duke, are alums or currently live in the South and have any thoughts of the climate for interracial dating in the region?
What next?
Other posts you may be interested in:
- On Matchmaking and Asian Male/White Female Interracial Relationships
- Gay interracial relationships: On being “sticky rice” and loving other Asian men
- Louisiana Justice Denies Interracial Marriage
- What Do You Know About Interracial Dating & Marriage?
- Chinese Duke student gets threats after China protest
Recent Comments
- ABC’s Modern Family: “I’m from Denver.”
- Jae Young: I love how when I told my coworkers that it enrages me when people ask “Where are you from?”...
- Rachel Lee: Asian Teens Behaving Badly
- Asians Behaving Badly: Japanese American Woman Sues Because Crunch Berries Aren’t Real Berries
- Jake: Nips? Flipz? How about someone take one for the team and sue those racist confectioners for products that...
- Newsflash: Some Asian Men Cheat on their Partners
- Hip Hip Hooray for MVP Hideki Matsui
- Simon Tsui: Hip hip hurry for Hideki Matsui! A lot of people question whether someone else deserved being MVP,...
7 Comments to “Duke: Interracial duos find themselves in the minority”
seanspace wrote:
In Georgia, there’s a decent number of interracial dating but not quite as common than in NY. it’s usually found near metro atlanta though. the further south you go, the less diverse the population is.
Posted on 18-Feb-08 at 1:22 pm | Permalink
tien wrote:
“Whether you believe this is a good or bad thing is your own individual opinion. ”
Honestly I’ve never understood those who think this is a “bad” thing, or have ever really heard any sort of rational opinion declaring so.
It’s similar to gay marriage, the only opposers are generally (always) bigoted, close minded individuals who are unable to get past their prejudices and feel the need to stick their noses in where they don’t belong..
Posted on 18-Feb-08 at 1:57 pm | Permalink
Bertie wrote:
My theory: Duke has a critical mass of people in the aforementioned racial groups, hence the opportunity for self-segregation, and although self-segregation might be comfortable and may create a sense of community, it can also to cliquishness and distrust of others not in one’s group. I grew up near Duke, and when I was growing up, there weren’t that many Asian-Americans around (i.e. no community), so Asian-Americans tended to mix with everyone else. I feel lucky to have grown up in that environment.
In any event, when I hear about these stories, and I read posts such as the “Why Asian Girls Go For White Guys” posts, I’m mystified. I reacted the same way to hearing about the bizarre in-fighting within the gay community in San Francisco. Anyway, I’ll saying it once and I’ll say it again. The melting pot approach is good. The “salad bowl” approach… questionable.
Posted on 19-Feb-08 at 10:57 am | Permalink
Robert wrote:
Tien,
I’ll give up a good example.
Long story short, with such a huge presence of Asian women with white men, it helps foster an environment where Asian men question their own sexual attractiveness in North American society which leads to insecurity and confidence issues. While non-Asian women aren’t completely shut off from Asian men but are less privy to do so, when their pool of potential women starts to dwindle, anger and resentment towards our own community members will increase.
See, the problem is that interracial dating among Asian Americans isn’t *bad* but the rate at which it is happening *is* because it’s starting to have a lingering effect. Your problem and others that constantly chant the mantra of being colorblind and ignorant of racial issues is that it’s not simply black and white.
There are gray zones. Ripples in the pond, if you will.
I’ll share a personal story:
A friend of mine, who’s married to an Asian guy, never really gave the issue much thought on how it affects the psyche of the Asian men. They’re both in their late 20s. She stated that there are *some* Asian men who are blowing the situation out of proportion but, one day, she asked her husband what he thought on the matter. She was shocked when he confirmed that he too had battles with depression and anxiety because of this issue.
He said that the huge amount of Asian women with white men, in combination with the large prevalence of Asian women who belong to the “Asian man hate club,” he questioned his own self worth constantly.
It wasn’t until he discovered that he was attractive when white women found him to be a very good looking guy. How ironic, huh? Asian women took away his dignity and confidence and white women gave it back.
I’m willing to bet that there will always be grumbling about this issue and Asian women refuse to question this issue because it prevents them from acting on their own fetish for white men. It reminds me of those rowing teams from college, if one side is just a tad slower, the boat starts moving in a circle. That’s how I view Asian America, Asian women and men simply aren’t on the same page.
Hell, I know non-Asian women that completly understand why Asian men would be heartbroken. I just think that Asian women *and* men are apathetic to their own. Either that or the whole community can’t foresee problems.
Posted on 19-Feb-08 at 11:35 am | Permalink
Ting wrote:
To Robert:
I would strongly suggest that Asian men who cannot get Asian brides in this country look abroad to the Philippines and Thailand where women outnumber men…unless of course Asian American men think it is below their dignity to marry Asian women from Asia.
Posted on 19-Feb-08 at 12:29 pm | Permalink
Bertie wrote:
(Wow, the grammar was atrocious in my last comment. Sorry about that.)
Anyway, just one more note to add. Growing up in the South, the Asian-American men dated non-Asian-Americans just as frequently as the women. The depressing dynamic between Asian-American females and Asian-American males over interracial dating that so often rears its head on this blog just didn’t exist where I grew up. If you were an Asian-American guy in a school where there were five other Asian people, you just pick who’s hot, not who’s of the same race. Sometimes I feel that living in an environment where people can hide in the safety of their ethnic “communities” (I use that term loosely) may actually be crippling. (Okay, probably not a popular opinions, but go ahead… flame away.)
Posted on 19-Feb-08 at 12:40 pm | Permalink
Robert wrote:
Ting,
I don’t think it would be an racial issue but more along the lines of cultural issues. It’s not about simply finding anyone…anyone can do that. My point is simple and very straight forward; this issue does indeed affect many Asian men and their confidence about their own sexuality and attractiveness when they see women, who should technically find them attractive, marrying and dating out at such a huge volume.
To say that there are *no* side effects and everything is perfectly fine is beyond wrong and reckless.
However, I know some really cool and smart but shy Asian guys who “fled” back to Asia, namely Korea and Taiwan, because they just didn’t feel like being treated as second class. No one enjoys that situation.
These days, more and more Asian men are starting to harbor this mentality that Asian women don’t have their backs. This is bound to antagonize Asian women. Asian women these days automatically assume that since they’re Asian, they automatically assume Asian men know they have their backs. In this day and age of Asian female interracial dating rates, it’s a very very very dangerous assumption to make. The problem is that everyone is approaching this issue at face value, not the repercussions 15 steps down the road. You can’t see beyond your own nose.
I’m not telling anyone what to do, I’m really not. What I am saying is that it does have an effect. If you don’t care, say so but don’t make it sound like there are absolutely no concern.
Also, Bertie, while it’s true that when a community seals itself off is harmful, there is also wide acceptance of the idea that the more races become intermingled, racial animosity will increase.
Posted on 20-Feb-08 at 10:39 am | Permalink
Post a Comment