Having mentioned in the first Real World New Orleans episode that my on and off college boyfriend of four years was black, didn’t really please every single viewer. Interestingly, I have received some lovely hate mail commenting on my dating preference. Some of the comments have included, “You are way to pretty to be dating black men.” Even better than that one, “You should have sex with only white men from now on to get all that black out of you.” As these comments are obviously amongst some of the most profound and well thought out I have learned to easily laugh them off and ignore, ignore, ignore. However, it does make me wonder…did a man just really go out of his way to write these things to me? The answer sadly enough is yes he did and of course these messages don’t warrant a response.

Living in Boston has allowed me to be very fortunate when it comes to liberal ways of thinking. Boston is very open to diversity and interracial dating is really a minor issue to this city. I have never had a bad experience here and I do really believe that most people here could truly care less who Ashlee is dating. As it should be! However, things seem to appear not so lax in the deep, deep south.

Having exposed my life on television, I understand I have to have thick skin and I realize that not everywhere in the world has accepted interracial dating. There are still plenty of places that look down upon a black man dating a white women or visa versa. Even on the show I experienced racism when I went with Jemmeye to meet Kodi’s (her ex-boyfriend) family. Jemmeye warned me in the south I would see more racism against swirl dating then I ever had. Chick was not lying! I was blown to see that the south is deep in its roots and is still waving that confederate flag! In all honesty, I could really care less what anyone has to say about who I date however, it is so sad to see that people I don’t even know are so concerned with the fact that I’d be more attracted to a Jamal than a John.

I can’t honestly speak to exactly how everyone in the south views swirl dating but I will say if I am judging off of just my own experience its not a friendly issue. Being able to stand back and watch how Kodi’s family received Jemmeye was quite a show in itself. I watched as his family stared down her back with disgust and the mere fact that this girl could be dating their baby, visually displeased them. I am big on reading body language and Kodi’s family was like a wide-open book. Whether to say this is the view of most in the south is something I definitely can’t say with a hundred percent certainty. However, from what I hear and from what I’ve seen interracial dating in the south is as acceptable as gay marriage is in the good ole state of Pennsylvania.

Where do you get the most resistance from your interracial relationship? How often do you get strange looks or comments regarding your relationship?

You can watch Ashlee and Jemmeye on MTV’s Real World New Orleans. Real World airs on Wednesday at 10/9c.

Author Bio: Ashlee is a current cast member on MTV’s Real World New Orleans-2010. Originally from New Jersey, Ashlee played basketball at Northeastern University. She’s definitely sendin love to all the haters..x and o http://www.iswirl.info

Category: Relationships
Keywords: ashlee feldman, real world, mtv, racism, interracial, dating, reality tv, iswirl,