cantata wrote:
It is astonishing really that anyone would look disapprovingly in this day and age, as you say jhado. I mean - what about it is "new" anymore? How many times do people have to see mixed race relationships before the "shock horror" has gone out of it?
Just you and Agnes enjoy!

I have come to the conclusion that it's impossible to eradicate racism, or any form of prejudice, from society, because certain people will always feel the need to pick on people that are different from them, as it makes them feel insecure.
I'm really a big believer in the psychological theory of schemata:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_(psychology)
...whereby people make up their view of the world and particularly the objects that exist in the world, essentially on the basis of generalisations about all of their pre-existing knowledge of that object. We all do this, and it's useful when dealing with a simple situation like a hot stove, for example, because we know not to burn ourselves. But it's bad when dealing with people, as it causes us to generalise or stereotype people, based on rudimentary characteristics.
We all do this, and even with people sometimes it can be useful, but perhaps for the more simple and less fair minded among us it causes them to think "a black person shouldn't be with a white person", or "all black people are bad", or "all Muslims are bad", etc. Try getting on public transport or a plane with traditionally dressed Muslims, for example, and watch people's reactions. It's because they've been trained to think "Muslim equals bad" so when they see a Muslim, they don't see an individual person, they just see their own conditioned prejudices.
I think there will always be a certain percentage of people that literally make up their view of the world by seeing their pre-existing knowledge / prejudices reflected over and over again - again, this is something we're all prone to - so, unfortunately, I don't think you will ever see racism disappear.