A white couple will probably be the first people to tell you what to do if you’re planning a wedding for a black couple.
They may not want to hear it, because it’s a big deal.
But there’s an even bigger problem: There are a lot of white people who have never even heard of interracial marriage.
And they think it’s OK, because you’re just being polite and doing it for your own good.
“When we talk about interracial weddings, we’re talking about weddings that are a celebration of love,” says Michelle Jones, a white-marriage counselor in Seattle.
“But it’s also a celebration for the love between two people.”
In fact, it’s not just weddings for white people that are problematic.
In 2012, a Pew survey of 2,000 U.S. adults found that more than half of white respondents had never heard of the term “interracial marriage,” and only 18 percent of white couples said they’d had a “favorable” response to a survey about their relationship.
The survey, which was conducted in late June and early July, also found that only 22 percent of married white couples say they’d “always” marry someone of the opposite sex.
That’s a huge problem.
It means that if you do marry someone on the other side of the color line, you’re at risk of having a wedding that is, for all intents and purposes, an interracial one.
And that’s a problem that’s not going away.
In May, the White House announced that the Department of Justice is launching a national hotline to help families navigate a legal fight over the legality of a white person marrying a black person.
The hotline, which is part of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, will help people find out what the law says and what they can do to ensure that they’re doing it legally.
But the real question is what to say.
Is there a legal argument against interracial marriages?
Can you make a legal case?
And should you?
Some people may disagree.
According to Jones, it all depends on your race.
“If you’re a white couple, I think you have the same right to say, ‘I think it is a bad idea,'” she says.
“Or, if you have one of those couples, you don’t have a legal problem.
But then you also have the right to make a counter argument.”
Jones says there are plenty of reasons why white people shouldn’t have trouble marrying someone of their own race.
They have a higher rate of economic stability, she says, and more options available to them than people of color.
Also, white people tend to have a stronger marriage tradition than people who are not white.
They can build their marriage around a shared sense of identity and the fact that you share the same history.
And even if your partner is not of the same race, they still share a common history.
Jones says that the best thing you can do is make sure you’re telling the truth and are not going to be perceived as “soft on black people.”
“There are people who might be offended that you would tell the truth, and you don, too, because the truth is important,” she says and adds, “That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk about it.”
If you’re still unsure about whether interracial relationships are something you should consider, Jones recommends talking to your attorney.
“You can always go back and make sure that there’s not anything in the marriage agreement that could be interpreted as an attack on the person you’re dating,” she tells Fortune.
“There is no reason that you shouldn’t tell the person your feelings.
You should tell them your heart.
And you shouldn of course be able to get the best advice you can for the situation.”
And, of course, there’s no legal justification for interracial couples to be married, says Jones.
The law hasn’t changed since 1965, so it’s unclear what the next step is for white couples in the meantime.
But Jones says the next logical step is a legal ruling that can prevent interracial unions.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” she adds.
“It would mean that interracial people don’t suffer.”
What you need to know about interrace marriages:
