True Stories About Interracial Hook-Ups, Dating, And Relationships

—— “His mother had been recently mugged by a black man…”

I am Asian-American, and my college (and post-college) boyfriend was (and still is, I guess) half black and half white. We were driving cross-country one summer with two other friends, staying with whomever we could to save money. I had asked a friend who lived in Chicago if we could crash with his family. He enthusiastically said yes. This friend was Mexican-American and came from a middle-class family.

As we approached Chicago, I called him from a pay phone (this was pre-cell phone era) to let him know when we were arriving. He sounded very stressed; he said that we could no longer stay with him because his mother had been recently mugged by a black man and would not stand to have a black man in the house. He felt so bad that he said he would pay for a hotel. I told him he didn’t have to do that, but he insisted. He directed us to a hotel where he had already made a reservation. He probably had less money than we did, and the hotel, more like infested motel, certainly reflected that.

I recall much argument that night among us four travelers about what my friend should have done or what each of us would have done, but I never blamed him. Each generation can only try to make fewer mistakes than the last. Now, 20 years later, we are all still friends.