Racial dating preferences

16-Feb-2021 14:51

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If you have a few minutes to spare, this T1J video is a pretty good overview of the topic, including some interesting data from OKCupid.

Marron explains: ‘Racial “preferences” are shaped by learned values.’ He then says: ‘When you’re judging a person based solely on their racial background, you’re acting on generalizations you’ve learned to associate with that person’s appearance or heritage.

‘We’re not born with preconceived notions about race.

I'd say that if your preference is a preference (e.g.

I find more attractive), but that you would be open to dating the right person regardless of that, it's probably not racist.The two different types of preference ('a': I will only date 'x'; and 'b': I will never date 'y') are different though and I think 'a' is less likely to indicate a racist attitude than 'b'. If you said "I am only interested in low-maintenance women, so I can't date a black woman," or "I am only attracted to petite women, so I'm not interested in dating a black woman," that would be pretty textbook racial prejudice.