In the pursuit of a mate everyone has their preferences. Some women prefer tall guys and some men like girls with blonde hair. Some preferences go beyond simple physical features. For instance there are those who prefer people of the same sex or the opposite sex.
Recently the concept of having preferences for the race of your partner has come into question. Does having racial preference about dating make someone a racist?
The problem is this cannot be answered with a simple yes or no because the answer is both yes and no. The answer depends on whether you look at it objectively or subjectively.
The Oxford Dictionary defines racism as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. Therefore, having a racial preference for a partner could be considered racist because you are discriminating by the color of their skin.
On the other hand, you may not be discriminating because you believe your race to be superior. No one can control what preferences they have, but someone else might.
Some believe that Hollywood has a slight influence on our racial biases. It is no secret that Hollywood has a large influence on our culture, but according to the Hollywood Diversity Report from 2014 – 2016, “More than half of films had casts that were 10% minority or less.”
With minorities underrepresented in Hollywood it could be inferred that the standard of beauty in America could be influenced towards whites. With that said, the impact of this is noted on dating sites and apps.
According to the dating app OkCupid’s blog “White women prefer white men to the exclusion of everyone else—and Asian and Hispanic women prefer them even more exclusively.”
Even amongst the gay community this is an issue.
“Blacks get fewer responses,” OkCupid said.
The data presented by dating websites and apps shows that whites are more sought after, but that does not make it an issue of racism. At the end of the day beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is simply a preference that cannot be controlled.
If picking a partner based on race is racist then picking a partner based on their sex is also sexist. However, neither of these preferences stem from the belief of superiority.