I dated a black girl in college (I am white). This was in 1981, in a conservative Christian college in Nashville, and the race thing was never a problem because we saw each other as individuals with a lot of common interests – neither of us were trained to think of things in racial terms. We dated as individuals, not ars members of our respective races!
I have known one black guy who was obsessed with blonde women and one white guy who was obsessed with Asian women. They did think in terms of race, to the point of being rather silly about it, if you ask me!
Another observation: one time (mid 1990s) I overheard a conversation between two guys about interracial relationships “back when it mattered” (their term/phrase), say back in the sixties and early seventies. One of the guys was talking about people that he knew from high school and college. The other guy mentioned two celebrities of opposite races – he was black, she was white; time and a deteriorating brain prevent me from recalling the specific actors. The first guy retorted, “Oh, that is different, they are both celebrities. Celebrities are a breed apart!” I always thought that was funny! Once you achieve celebrity status, the rules and mores of regular society don’t really apply to you anymore!