Some things never change. It has been over one-hundred years since this book was written, yet some of the social constructs and problems I observed in Ruiz de Burton’s Who Would Have Thought It still linger.

Throughout the novel thus far, it seems as if Lola’s prospects of marriage have been scare because she is not Caucasian and not from New England. On page 100, Lola speaks on the racial prejudices acted upon her by the Norval family and her community, stating “I saw that your mother detested me, and Ruth had a sort of repugnance for me…I was an object of aversion because my skin was black.” Furthermore, Mrs. Norval mentions the then 10 year old Lola and her prospect of marriage on the first night they met. When informed that Lola was of a Spanish (not an Indian or African) heritage, Mrs. Norval starkly replied, “I am glad she is not,because…if she be of decent people, then…a decent man would marry her” (27).

Interracial relationships can still be seen as looked down in some societies or by some people today. Take my parents, for example. My father is Caucasian, and was raised in a rural, Catholic area of Washington State. My mother is a Chinese-Indonesian, meaning her family has been in Indonesia for Generations, but is of a predominately Chinese heritage. She grew up in a rural and Muslim village in Indonesia.

When my mother’s family discovered the relationship between my parents was becoming more serious, they were, well, according to my mother, ecstatic. The Chinese in Indonesia are discriminated against because they are a large and mostly rich community. However, my mom, being Chinese, was discriminated against by her Indonesian classmates as a child. So, she told me, when she was “silly and sixteen” she decided she, “wanted to marry a non-Chinese Indonesian or a foreigner”. In my dad, she found both, and also of course, love. In a way, this accidental meeting between my parents was a “step-up” according to many of the villagers.

However, on the other side of the Pacific, the reactions from my father’s side of the family were different. They grilled him, asking him things such as, “Why do you want to date a foreigner? And an Asian at that! From that Turbulent country we have never heard of? What was wrong with the girls back home? Why couldn’t he just date that nice blonde girl from your calculus class etc., etc”. I guess in that generation and in that time, interracial dating was very foreign (no pun intended) experience for the staunch Catholics of my father’s family.

Everything worked out in the end with both families accepting each other, but there were definitely some rough times. For me, it is just hard to grasp that over a hundred years later, people still thought that interracial relationships were still taboo.

And part of me believes that they still are a bit…my boyfriend is from Germany. When I told my parents about him, they said, “Deanna, why did you decide to date a foreigner? And one that is five years older than you at that!”. This statement was ironic to me, seeing as my parents are from two different countries, and 11 years apart. Oh well. I guess some things never change.