By Kierra Chandler

As many people know, Kylie Jenner revealed to the world on February 4th, 2018, that she had been pregnant, and recently gave birth to a little girl.  Many fans, including me, assumed she had been pregnant because she was not making public appearances. Even so, her becoming a mother was the trending topic of the week.

Another storyline that has been dangling over the Kardashians and Jenners for years now, is why the sisters seem to date only African American males, versus men of their own race. Many like myself would not even think to worry about the ethnicity of who a Kardashian was dating, but it is surprising how many people in America still frown upon interracial dating and marriage.

According to medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, mixed marriage is “marriage or interbreeding of individuals of different races.” Kylie’s daughter, Stormi, is half Black and half Caucasian. I have seen an increase in interracial couples and I would have thought they were beginning to be more socially acceptable, but does anyone remember the buzz on how shocking it was that Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle?  On May 19th, 2017, Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle, an African American female. The world was taken completely by surprise, because modern times have not witnessed interracial couple as part of the United Kingdom’s royal family. If Kylie and Travis were to get married, would the same global skepticism, surprise, and disapproval arise?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle /photo by Skynews.com

Interracial marriage is legal in The United States. The legendary case of Loving vs. Virginia, set the precedent for this. This case opened doors for mixed race couples and for the world to be a better society as a whole, showing more acceptance, at least legal, concerning the choices individual make to marry whomever they so desire. Kylie Jenner’s fame may have taken the spotlight off of her relationship and was put onto her daughter, but if she were not a part of the legendary Kardashian family, I believe she may have been subjected to the same scrutiny.

Kylie Jenner is not the only member of her family, who is in a mixed raced relationship. Her mother is dating Corey Gamble. In November of 2014, the couple went public with their relationship. Corey Gamble is an African American male, who works for Justin Bieber’s manager and is in charge of Kris’ media personality.

Kylie’s sister Kim Kardashian West, who is married to Kanye West, a black male, also has mixed race children and her other sister, Khloe Kardashian has a mixed-race child on the way.  The Kardashians are also mixed, with a Caucasian mother and an Armenian, Scottish, German, Dutch and Irish mixed raced father. According to PBS.org, the US Constitution legalized interracial marriage in the United States only 50 years ago in 1967. June 2018 marks the laws 51st birthday. Although this law is not ancient, but also not that new, many people still are not completely comfortable and accustomed to the idea of interracial couples.

When Serena Williams, a black, superstar tennis player, announced in 2017 that she was pregnant and engaged to Alexis Ohanian, a White male, she faced social media trolls and was under the line of fire. Simply loving someone causes chaos apparently. Though Williams never responded to her haters, she seemed to be not too interested in their thoughts as she is now Mrs. Serena Ohanian.

Mayor of New York, Bill DeBlasio, a White male, faced similar attacks through social media when many people claimed he used his Black wife and mixed-race son, who wears an afro as his choice of hairstyle, as a pawn to gain ethnic votes. Accusations began to swarm in the media about the couple’s relationship style and his wife’s sexual orientation, all because the world could not come to grasps with what they perceived as an unusual complex situation. Claiming a person used is interracial marriage and mixed- child for politics is more than distasteful, but Bill DeBlasio weathered the storm and became mayor of New York.

The DeBlasio family/ Photo from facebook.com

Many would wonder what is so complex about having a White father and Black mother and vice versa. Nothing is shocking about being mixed for an average citizen, but for mainstream celebrities and government officials, it seems to become news worthy, and even a problem. When former President Barack Obama let it be known that his father was Kenyan and his mother was White, many attacked him for looking like a “Muslim,” associating him with terrorists and defamed his character.

Why is it that the world is still so shocked by interracial couples when it has been legalized for 51 years? There have been numerous celebrity interracial couples like John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton, and the list goes on. I’m sure they have had to face their own amount of disapproval from the world. I think it’s time for mixed raced couples to be a social norm. The world, especially America, is filled with numerous ethnicities and the mixing of different races should not be a concern or shock.

Halle Berry/ facebook.com

The famous American actress, Halle Berry, once said, “When you grow up in that (multi-ethnic) environment, you see the world differently. Being a mixed-race child, I didn’t always see color in people, I really didn’t. It was other people that made me see the color all the time.”