Black Panther Doesn't Want His Daughter to Date IR

Beyond Black and White Talk

Here's the letter: "My name is Erica I am 23 and my boyfriend's name is Ryan who is 24. We are both finishing up college as a nursing student and him as a petroleum engineer. We have been together for 2 years and 1 month now. We are going through extremely lows with our families, especially mine. My fathers is completely against me dating a Caucasian man. (My father was born back in the time of segregating and riots. He is a black panther). My father met him once and never tried to really get to know him. Ryan has longed to just have a chance to talk and get to know my dad. I never thought it was an issue to consider dating outside my race. We live in a pretty mixed area. My 2 brothers are also married with different ethnicity (Filipino and Hispanic). Long story short, my father disgrace me every time he knows I am with him. On fourth of July, I went to Ryan's house to study for nursing school. My father checked on me and I panicked. My family doesn't let Ryan come over so I have to sacrifice seeing him sometimes. I feel bad for lying of course, but I can't do what makes me happy. I please my parents a lot more than I do for myself. This one time that I find pure happiness, they go against it completely. I love Ryan with every ounce of me. It has been extremely hard being in my first interracial relationship. I do not regret meeting him because he has brought such joy in my life. My parents tend to stress me out more than anyone. I am a nursing student and I have a lot of pressure on me. I have always been pressured by my parents with school. Of course we aren't very expressive because my parents see one way. So it is hard for me to express how I feel with them. My questions is, what should I do? I do not want to say goodbye to Ryan, but how do I stand against this? This has been heavy on my heart and I feel like it is all too much. I just want to be happy with peace. My parents tend to do that opposite of support me. What should I do? Any advice would help us both. Thank you for your time!"