How Craig Melvin’s Mom Reacted When She Learned He Was Dating a White Woman
Today host Craig Melvin’s wife Lindsay Czarniak virtually sat down with her mother-in-law, Betty Jo Melvin, to talk about her experiences as a Black woman.
Lindsay also asked Betty Jo what her reaction was to learning that her son was dating a white woman.
“I told him that love has no color,” she said, but she still had concerns for their future children.
In light of the ongoing conversation about race initiated by protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, Today host Craig Melvin’s wife Lindsay Czarniak virtually sat down with her mother-in-law, Betty Jo Melvin, to talk about her life’s experiences as a Black woman. In that conversation, which Lindsay shared to Instagram, she also asked Betty Jo what her reaction was to learning that her son was dating a white woman.
“He had to tell me that you were white,” Betty Jo explained. “I don’t even know how it came up, y’all had been dating a while!” That’s because Betty Jo raised Craig to believe that love has no color, so he didn’t feel the need to mention Lindsay’s race right away. “I told him that love has no color, that your skin color doesn’t matter, as long as you loved him and he loved you,” she said. “The color of your skin has nothing to do with who you are on the inside.”
Until recently, Lindsay had no idea Craig and his mom had such a conversation. “It’s interesting because, I have thought, ‘Sure, was it weird for you guys?” or ‘How was it perceived?’” she said. “But you kind of think about that, and you don’t necessarily think you’d ever say it.’”
According to Betty Jo, she had prepared for the possibility that her sons could marry non-Black people long before they dated anyone, and she always came to the same conclusion: “As long as they love them, that’s all the matters.”
When Craig and Lindsay started dating and eventually got engaged, Betty Jo was more concerned about their future kids, who she knew would face discrimination and hardships growing up. “It was the children that I said, you know, you have to prepare your children,” she added.
Now, the married couple are parents to two toddlers, Delano and Sybil, and have recently had some serious discussion about what it means to be a biracial family. “We’re acutely aware of [race], but we’ve tried to live these lives where we’re not consumed by it,” Craig recently shared on Today. However, their kids require them to think about it more critically.
A post shared by Lindsay Czarniak (@lindsaycz) on May 3, 2020 at 11:57am PDT
“The reality is my kids are Black,” he said. “And they at some point will have to become aware of the fact that that is how society views them.” He continued: “So we’re starting to talk about how we’re going to be able to help them navigate issues that we didn’t have to deal with.”
In a recent Instagram video, Lindsay admitted that when she set out to have kids, she assumed the “race discussion” would no longer be “a thing.” But it definitely is. “It has not gotten better,” she explained. “So my eyes have been open to that, about the need for conversation, big conversation about race. And I’m also keenly aware that this is not just a black and white conversation. This is really about humanity.”
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