MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FL -- I’m truly thankful that I’ve been blessed with a beautiful family, my daughters are my world and my husband is an absolute gem. I can’t imagine what I would do without them.
Here’s the thing, I’m from a very small town in Ohio where diversity was just a word in the dictionary. Growing up, I went to an all-white school and I can remember the first time an African American child came to our school, the kids were relentless in their disrespect towards him.
I knew it was wrong, looking back it was truly sad that young kids learned this type of vitriol toward someone different than themselves.
My family in Ohio held a similar stance toward African Americans, they couldn’t see them outside of the stereotypes they’d heard in the community or on television.
I didn’t see things the way my family did, I’d always known that there were good people in every race as well as bad ones too.
I remember when I decided to bring my then-husband who was African-American home to my family, I tried to warn him about my family that what they may say or think doesn’t reflect how I felt about him. He told me that I need not worry, people love him. I admit I was reluctant for them to meet.
We go and initially I had my reservations but the family absolutely loved him. I looked and couldn’t believe it. Their interaction with him changed their perspective on what they hadn’t seen before. They pre-judged him but realized he wasn’t anything like they thought.
I love and commend my family for taking a step in the right direction toward changing things not only in their lives, but the lives of others. As I moved onto my current marriage, my family loves my husband, my father who obviously grew up in a different time once had reservations about interracial dating and marriage and now he asks for my husband all the time.
It’s weird how life changes things. I hope my story can inspire some to change, because if my family from a tiny town in Ohio can change, then we can change things anywhere.