Is this the last taboo?

"Basically there was a racial hierarchy. The first choice for marriage is someone in your own community, then after that, white is the next best thing. And after white, any other race in the world but black."In a small flat in east London, Rena, a 27-year-old Briton of Indian descent, recalls the stark marital guidance she received from her father when she was younger.It was advice that she chose to ignore, however, because, sitting and smiling alongside her is her fiancé, Tony, 30-year-old black Londoner of Ghanaian origin.The warning from Rena's father reveals the depth of hostility and intolerance that can often confront Asian and black relationships from within their own communities.Despite the UK having one of the fastest-growing mixed race populations in the world, the overwhelming majority of inter-ethnic married couples in England and Wales include a white person.Romance across the racial divide between black and Asian people is not just rare, for many it remains a taboo.Thrown together through the history of colonialism and post-war immigration, Britain's black and Asian people have lived alongside each other for decades in many major cities.Their communities span diverse countries, languages and religions from Africa, the Indian Sub-Continent and the Caribbean.But although they share a history of struggle against racism, concealed underneath are deep and ugly fault lines - fault lines that can split apart when people from these two communities fall in love with each other.In a modest bungalow in Coventry, Davinder, Rena's father does not deny warning his daughter against marrying someone from the African-Caribbean community. But he is at pains to make me understand that, "it was not out of hatred."     Listen to Radio 4's The Last TabooInstead, Davinder says, his warning came out of love for his daughter because he believed that black men had a problem with commitment to the family. He did not want his own daughter to be abandoned.Rena says that Tony was not even shocked to hear that her father had these views of black men.""Tony summed it up and said, 'Oh, so your dad thinks that black men are bed-hopping, baby breeders then?' And then he said: 'I'll try my best to disappoint your father,' as in, I'll prove him wrong, and that was quite nice."Over the next two years, Tony was repeatedly called upon to do his best as Rena's parents fought the relationship.Vimla, Rena's mother, admits she was deeply afraid that her daughter could be marginalised and isolated by her own community and family for choosing to be with someone black.But despite the fraught scenes and painful conversations, Rena and Tony refused to cave in to the pressure. They were determined that Rena's parents accept their love."I knew that my feelings for Rena weren't going to change," says Tony. "It was just a question of getting her parents to see the vision."(BBC)Bakudaily.Az