Dating and Racism

[redrider12]

Apologies if this is mis-posted but here goes.

So recently, I've made a lot of really close guy friends and we hang out all the time and get into all kinds of trouble. Sometimes they ride solo, others they bring along their girlfriends. It's not that I've never dated, far from it. But I'm not currently "talking" to anyone. I often joke around about dating and how fun it would be to have a girlfriend again, and they've taken notice. Off and on, they try to introduce me to their single friends, and I've gotten really close with a few of them. But for some reason I can't bring myself to date someone who my guy friend knew first - maybe that's just me. Anyways.
So here's where it gets touchy. I say all of this with the least bias I can, being a caucasian male.
Several of my best friends are not caucasian/white. I love them all the same - a person is a person and any notion to the contrary falls short. What's difficult is not them, but their friends.

So my best friend, call him Darius, is african-american. He's truly a great guy, one of the best friends I've ever had. But most of the girls he knows are, well, african-american as well. Again, I know a lot of them and think only highly of them.
But I can't bring myself to be any more than friends with them. My friends who are black think that it's my being racist, only dating white girls. It's not that I dislike Darius' lady friends, but I have a preference for girls of my own race.

Does this preference make me rightfully racist? I'll hang out with anyone no matter what, I just don't want to get serious with them for some reason.

[Sailor Mars]

It isn't racist, nor prejudice. You have your own tastes in who you want to date and you're free to do as you please.

[drhalsey1]

Everyone has a type pretty much. Race is just as much a part of that as having a preference in hair or eye color or something

[Tesserax]

It's not really racist as in you dislike the race, but rather you simply do not find attraction with the race. It's fine, realx

[RJH98]

No you're not a racist. As everyone above said everyone has a "type". I have the same thing myself. All the girls I have dated were blonds. It's not something I chose but it just happened to be that way

[Zbmrnb16]

It's not racist at all, but I'd still consider relationships with different races if the person was good for you.

[Porpoise101]

What is it about them you don't like? Personally, I've found all types of people to be able to be good looking, intelligent, and nice. The only exception are Native Americans since I've never really known one.

By definition, you are racist since you are definitely selecting against them for race and for no other reason. If you consider it bad or not, that is up to you.

[Microcosm]

It's not really bad at all to be turned off by someone's race. It doesn't mean you think they are somehow inferior or whatever, but it just means you have a sort of innate romantic preference for one race, then that's okay. It's probably subconscious anyways.

It would be harmful to a relationship to try to make yourself be with someone of another race if it really bothered you. The relationship would be unhealthy in that sense. So, it's best to be upfront about it before starting a committed relationship.

[Uniquemind]

Mate selection is the only context where such prejudice makes sense because romance, love, and sex are so personal with what works for one and doesn't for another.

If you tried to give them a chance and still no feelings or connection was made, that's a fair shake and not racist.

Race heavily involves looks too and by default it may affect lust, or lack thereof.

The premise is that all people are treated equal, not that all must be exactly the same without individual opinions.

It's like saying your relationship with friend A must be an exact replica of relationship with friend B, it's just a bad way of understanding the concept of equality.