Here’s What NOT To Say To Interracial Couples

Update: We are republishing this piece due to the current conversation around interracial dating, thanks to this season of The Bachelor.

Now that every American has the privilege to marry whom they choose (and please, please, let's hope it stays that way), it's mind-boggling to realize that interracial marriage wasn't legalized in America until 1967 — less than 50 years ago. After all, since then, interracial relationships have only become more common, and we're generally much more progressive than we were back then.

But while we've come a long way since the days of gross anti-miscegenation laws that forbade couples of different races to marry, we've still got work to do.

Take, for example, some of the inappropriate things that people say to interracial couples. It's generally an unspoken rule that other people's relationships are none of our business. But when it comes to interracial relationships, for some reason, people often ignore that line.

To be fair, they don't always mean to be as hurtful or offensive as they come off — that's why these are called microaggressions. But it's 2016, and it's time we stopped having to have the conversation about what's appropriate to say to people in interracial relationships.

So with that in mind, we talked to 15 Refinery29 staff members and readers about what they wish people would stop saying about their interracial relationships. Click ahead to see.