Interracial couples: a taboo love story

The theme of Los Angeles Pierce College’s Bull magazine this semester is taboo and very few taboos have evoked unease as long as interracial relationships (IR) but that is what attracted one writer to the subject.

Pierce student and native Angeleno, Michel Williams, 20, who lives in Porter Ranch and hopes to transfer to either USC, UCLA or CSUN next year as a communications major, felt compelled to write about IR.

“Being an African American and seeing everything from a different perspective — it sparked a curiosity.”

Williams says her goal is to write about relationships in different stages — those where the couple had to overcome a family or society challenge to gain acceptance, those who had no challenges and those couples who have progressed through the dating scene and have married.

Although choosing which taboo to cover came naturally, there are challenges such as finding sources.

“I know people through people,” she says, “It’s not just interracial couple, it’s getting the specifics — you have [to find] a certain issue that [they’re] dealing with.  That’s the tricky part.”

She said the article will address the prejudices that IR couples face and readers will gain enlightenment of a world that they might not ever go through or think about.

“I’m really excited to be doing this,” she said.  “I hope people enjoy it.”