# Bob Jones University's interracial dating ban **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 14, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080 "2004-05-14T06:17:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/21 "2004-05-15T00:31:47Z")
I am curious about how they define “inter-racial dating”. I mean since it is in the South, historically that would imply no black/white contact. But do they have a very narrow definition of “white” that excludes all Hispanics, Mediterranean type people, or even Jews - as many white supremacists do? Would they have thrown a fit if a Latin American (even one that looked more or less “white”, and was from the upper class of his country) courted a southern belle? Also what if someone who was the result of an interracial marriage wanted to become a student? Or just a quarter Cherokee? Also, their degree may be worthless from the standpoint of mainstream academia, but I would bet quite a few fundamentalist Christian private schools, colleges, and church related non-profits would gladly hire a BJU (sorry!) graduate - otherwise no one would bother with spending time and money for their degree in the first place. What do BJU alumni become, other than pastors? ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/22 "2004-05-15T03:17:06Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Wow. That reasoning is just astounding. God erected barriers between the races. So, why not rule against using human technology (boats, domestication of horses) that allowed us to break those barriers? And if God didn’t want us to interbreed, all He had to do was tweak the DNA so it wouldn’t work. I live in Michigan. I know a Zambian woman who is a Christian. I’m an agnostic honky. Consider the implications here in terms of this issue. If she tried to convert me to Christianity, would this be against the Bible? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/23 "2004-05-15T03:31:41Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > I am curious about how they define “inter-racial dating”. I mean since it is in the South, historically that would imply no black/white contact. > > But do they have a very narrow definition of “white” that excludes all Hispanics, Mediterranean type people, or even Jews - as many white supremacists do? Would they have thrown a fit if a Latin American (even one that looked more or less “white”, and was from the upper class of his country) courted a southern belle? Modern white supremacy a la the neo-Nazi skinhead isn’t really what BJU is all about; what we have here is more of an old South “keep the uppity niggers away from our white girls” my-white-manhood-is-threatened thing going on. Sorry to use that word, but it describes precisely what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/24 "2004-05-15T04:05:46Z")
I live near Wheaton College, Billy Graham’s alma mater and not quite as nutty as Bob Jones–no machine-gun armed guards, for instance. It makes its students sign a pledge stating they won’t drink, smoke, date, dance, play cards, screw, perform virgin sacrifices (though I saw a ceremony that looked like it was heading there while driving past one night), or any of the other things that make going to college worthwhile. (They just had their first school-sponsored dance and it was a bit contraversial while looking like a cotillion in 1955.) Anyway, I just learned that one of their grads is Wes Craven. I guess he deals with the experience by splattering faux blood and guts all over the screen. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/25 "2004-05-15T04:05:48Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > What do BJU alumni become, other than pastors? Mr. TeaElle recently worked with a BJU alumni who is a bar-admitted lawyer in the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as well as the District of Columbia. Despite my smirking suggestion, he didn’t go to the law school at Pat Robertson’s college, either. The lack of accreditation apparently didn’t harm him, but he did graduate from BJU a number of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/26 "2004-05-15T05:10:09Z")
I live down the road from Bob Jones University. You can usually point out BJU students in the mall very easily. The guys are always wearing pants and dress shirts and the girls are in long dresses. BJU has one of the best religious art collections in the country. I was a dating an art major and she made me go with her to see it. She was a little creeped out to go alone. She drinks, smokes, cusses, gambles etc. She is a sinner 😉 Well, my brother died from cancer years ago, so I grow my hair out to get it cut every two years to donate to Locks of Love. BJU frowns upon long hair on men. While at the art museum one of the worker bees said I had to leave because of my long hair. I explained to him why I have long hair. He said it was fine, but I had to put it up in a har. The entire time, the worker bee followed us throughout the museum. He kept a eye on us. It was creepy. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/27 "2004-05-15T07:58:09Z")
> [@Jplacer](#): > > BJU frowns upon long hair on men. While at the art museum one of the worker bees said I had to leave because of my long hair. I explained to him why I have long hair. You should have pointed to a picture of Jesus and said “I’m trying to live like this guy”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/28 "2004-05-15T07:59:58Z")
Maybe their pictures of Jesus all show him with a crewcut. Can’t have a savior who looks like a sissy, after all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/29 "2004-05-15T15:01:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Isn’t it kind of arrogant for them to presume to know what God’s plan is if it isn’t explicitly stated in the Bible? It seems to me that if you accept the literal truth of the Bible–like these people do–you can’t go around interpreting stuff willy-nilly. Isn’t that a definition of a religious fanatic? Someone who’s just doing the same thing that God would have done, if he had been aware of all the facts. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/30 "2004-05-15T16:45:40Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Yes, BJU has non-white students & has for quite a while (I think there was a time they had seperate classes & rooming for them)- and I have read somewhere that the interracial dating ban really started when a wealthy Asian contributor whose child was attending there was horrified that his child was dating a white. > > I not making this up- I think I read it at the beliefnet site, tho I’m not sure. > > Then BJU came up with the Biblical justification that interbreeding leads to internationalism leads to AntiChrist World Gov’t. Sounds verrrry dubious, frankly. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/31 "2004-05-15T17:09:58Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Having known some people who attend bible colleges, my impression is this: > Most of the students there are from extremely conservative protestant families who, but for the extremely restrictive nature of these campuses, probably would never let their kids–daughters especially–attend colleges, for fear they’d be force-fed lots of liberal claptrap contrary to the faith they’d been raised in. Hiya. Bible college grad here. As a very broad statement, there is some merit in that description, but it’s only slightly more accurate than saying that most State University students like to party and get drunk. For BCs in general a good 10-15% come from non-Christian families and most were public-schooled. Bob Jones is the extreme. I went to Moody in Chicago, and we used to hear horror stories from transfers from there (Pensacola is the other really nutty one). My favorites were the seperate male/female staircases and the guy who had his camera temporarily confiscated. He was taking pics of his girlfreind on her graduation day, wearing a ankle-length dress. Apparently the were concerned abouth her standing in the light and him ogling her silhouette. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/32 "2004-05-15T19:41:13Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > [snip] > > > [@](#): > > > > “God has separated people for His own purpose. He has erected barriers between the nations, not only land and sea barriers, but also ethnic, cultural, and language barriers. . . . The attempts at one-worldism have been to devise a system without God and have fostered the promotion of a unity designed to give the world strength so that God is not needed and can be overthrown. . .” So it was God’s intention that natives of the Americas, Asians, Australians, etc. would NEVER get a chance to hear the gospel, and therefore forever be doomed to hell? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/33 "2004-05-16T03:31:38Z")
> [@furt](#): > > For BCs in general a good 10-15% come from non-Christian families and most were public-schooled. Not disputing you, but what exactly do you mean by “non-Christian families”? Are these college students who are attracted to a Christian environment in spite of their upbringing, or what? I worked with a woman who attended Columbia Union College partially as a rebellion against her Catholic parents. Not sure who footed the bill for that one. (Not trying to start an “Are Catholics really Christian?” argument here, but the RCC and the Seventh Day Adventists don’t appear to have a lot of common ground.) ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/34 "2004-05-16T03:54:51Z")
I’ve always gotten the impression that well off families who aren’t _quite_ well off enough to bribe one of the Ivy’s (or don’t want their children attending liberal schools) ship their children off to vastly overpriced Bible Schools where they got mostly worthless liberal arts degrees. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/35 "2004-05-16T04:23:55Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > I understand that they still require students to get parental permission before they date anyone, though. Which leaves a nice backdoor for a school official to call up a student’s parent and saying “did you know that Chastity has been dating a Negro? No? Well, then I guess we’ll have to discipline her for unauthorized socialization.” They have changed this policy and inter-racial dating is currently accepted entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/36 "2004-05-17T15:31:13Z")
> [@](#): > > BJU has one of the best religious art collections in the country Really? It always seemed to me that extreme Protestantism (is that a word?) and approving of religious art didn’t go together. Probably just because I had a roommate that was thinking of going to BJU and she thought icons and church decoration were idolatrous and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/37 "2004-05-17T16:53:39Z")
> [@Jplacer](#): > > I live down the road from Bob Jones University. You can usually point out BJU students in the mall very easily. The guys are always wearing pants and dress shirts and the girls are in long dresses. When I see them walking down Pleasantburg, I always wonder how they jumped over that big tall fence. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080/38 "2004-05-17T18:41:01Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Not disputing you, but what exactly do you mean by “non-Christian families”? Are these college students who are attracted to a Christian environment in spite of their upbringing, or what? Well, _they_ were Christians; you’re required to sign a doctrinal statement to enroll. But they may have converted in high school or in the military or at some point. Then of course you have the kids from mixed/split families or whatever. Actually, if you start counting uncles, step-parents, etc, I’d say probably 1/3 to 1/2 have non-Christian family members. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-jones-universitys-interracial-dating-ban/245080.md?page=1)