Lauren Cooper, freshman hospitality management major, holds a picture of her and her boyfriend, Victor Mason, who lives in Columbus. “We make it work, and try to see each other every other weekend,” she says. LESLIE L. CUSANO | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Dan Kloock

There was once a time when love among the races was taboo. Couples had to hide their relationships because of

parents, friends, or worse yet

— society.

Nowadays, the racism issue still lingers, but interracial relationships and acceptance are both on the rise.

According to dating.lovetoknow.com, in 1970 there were only 65,000 marriages involving blacks and whites. In 2005, that number grew to 422,000.

Lauren Cooper, freshman hospitality management major, has had interracial relations her whole life and has been in an interracial relationship for almost five years.

“At first my dad was not open to the idea, but as long as I was happy, he would accept anybody,” Cooper said.

Cooper said she feels her parents are supportive.

“It wasn’t hard for my parents to accept me. My sister is in an interracial relationship too.”

She added that the rest of her family is just as supportive.

“There are no problems,” she said. “They are very accepting and enjoy my boyfriend.”

Cooper said she grew up around hip-hop and R&B, a crowd both she and her sister found comfort in, and that’s the life she is used to living.

“When I was a kid, I just felt accepted by the groups of friends my sister had,” she said. “The majority were African American.”

Cooper said she thinks Kent State, as a whole, is open to interracial relationships, but people form cliques because they find comfort in what they were used to before college.

“It’s hard to put myself out there to be accepted by the type of people I’m used to because it seems they judge me too soon.”

Cooper admitted she never encountered any racial issues.

“I hang around a group of people that are accepting,” she said. “No one is close-minded. It was never an issue to dwell over.”

Although Cooper is white, she said once people get to know her, they are surprised to find out she is not what most people expected.

“Because I’m Caucasian, people expect I associate with other Caucasians,” she said. “People have this false sense of who I am.”

Kimberly Miller, a freshman fashion design major, said interracial relationships don’t bother her either.

“As long as everyone’s happy,” she said. “Race is nothing.”

Cooper agreed.

“Though people come in many colors, love has no color,” she said.

Contact features reporter Samantha Tosado at [email protected].