An interracial dating is dating between people who come from differing races or ethnicities. The most widely used human racial categories are always based on visible traits, particularly the skin color and facial features. Usually the dating of different races involves the white and black races or coming from Africa. This was once widely considered a taboo in U.S. and way back in 1863’s it was even illegal by law to entertain such things. Today in the United States as population becomes ever more diverse more and more people dating across race lines it is more easily accepted. The percentage U.S. married couples who were interracial nearly doubled from 2.9 percent to 5.4 percent between 1990 and 2000, to a total of more than 3 million. Americans have become more approval of the interracial marriages, while 70 percent of adults in 1986 said they approved of interracial marriage, that figure increased to 83 percent by 2003 according study.

Interracial dating can also occur between European (Hispanics), Native American races (Mexicans) and Asians. Even the Africans are divided into African Americans and African Caribbeans. Dating between blacks and whites is also commonly called as Salt and Pepper dating.

Usually interracial dating involves cohabiting and mutually consented sexual relations without marriage. Sometimes the dating may even end up with the partners marrying each other, when it is also called as Interracial Marriage.

There are a lot of online websites offering such interracial dating services usually for a small fee. For example the site, Salt & Pepper Singles, http://www.saltandpeppersingles.com/ is an internet website dedicated for diversely ethnic singles looking for love, dating and romance. It brings together people whose common bond is their love to date outside their own race and have a personal relationship. It caters to both men seeking women and women seeking men. They provide a detailed database of like minded interracial daters with detailed individual profiles.

There are also certain inherent problems with such dating. Expect to see some comic, surprising and sometimes even vulgar reactions in the public. The society is still not completely matured to accept such datings because racist and sexist stereotyping (the black man as the ultimate male sexual fantasy and Asian women as exotic and submissive sexpots) these inaccurate and harmful stereotypes are influencing people's dating habits and encouraging anxiety and feelings of inadequacy, out casting or stigmatizing certain ethnicities and thereby increasing resentment and animosity toward interracial dating.