In the new century, there is possibly no match that we haven’t seen on the dating scene.

We’ve seen homosexual couples, transgender, transgender with heterosexual, homosexual with heterosexual and the list of possible matches could go on forever. However, there is still one match that some people have yet to fully accept and explore; interracial couples.

It’s extremely important to be open-minded when it comes to dating outside the race. The Census Bureau reported that interracial couples have risen 20 percent since 2000.

It can be easy to offend those involved in an interracial relationship or those who have family members in an interracial relationship. But in reality, the issue isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

For centuries, interracial dating and marriage was illegal in many states and countries around the world. Until recently, I’ve never really put any deep thought into interracial dating.

I was extremely bothered when I met a 30-year-old African-American male that openly stated he had a preference for anything but African-American women. His reasons for doing so were totally unjustified and stereotypical of many African-American men that prefer to only date outside their race. He believes that African-American women don’t respect themselves and are rude. Clearly, he had some issues that went deeper than dating, but to each his own.

On the other hand, my little sister has been in an interracial relationship for quite some time now. I’ve never had someone in my family date outside their race, so this was all new to me. Being an older sister that has been in many different cultural surroundings,  I openly celebrate it. Not because she is breaking boundaries in our family, but because it’s her first relationship and she’s more comfortable than some of the 20-somethings I know.

The above situations involving interracial dating have actually opened me up to the prospects of dating someone outside my race. Not that I wasn’t open before, but it wasn’t as close to home as it is now. It’s good to maintain a positive way of thinking when taking cultural boundaries and preferences into consideration.

No matter what your flavor of the day, week or month may be, don’t knock it until you try it.