On a lazy Sunday evening, I channel surfed and came upon an episode of This is Life with Lisa Ling. I’ve watched several episodes before, and I found them to be deeply interesting. Lisa Ling does an amazing job of covering the topics objectively, without judgement. Somehow her compassion and humanity permeate each episode, independent of topic. She presents the topics in a way that we see and empathize with the people, not merely flatten them and bucket them into a particular category.
This particular episode, “Interracial Love” (Season 9, Episode 2) talks about the stigma and challenges of couples of different races. I, a Chinese man, coupled with a Caucasian woman, found this episode especially interesting. Naturally, one story covered how a father broke ties with his son, because he married and had children with a Black woman. It showed this relationship open up over the course of years. I found this story both deeply distressing and quietly optimistic.