There are an estimated 200,000 black-and-white couples in America who are pioneers in racially mixed marriages. Mark and Gail Mathabane's Love in Black and White: The Triumph of Love Over Prejudice and Taboo is the story of one such couple. They met in 1984 while both were attending the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Mark was Mathabane the South African-born author of Kaffir Boy and Kaffir Boy in America who had triumphed over poverty and forged a new life in the United States. Gail was raised in middle class suburbia and adored by her liberal clergyman father.
Worried about her father's disapproval of their relationship, Gail and Mark married in secret. Later, they won family approval and celebrated a public marriage. It was only then that Mark was stunned by the enmity of many blacks who criticized him for being a traitor to his race. Love in Black and White vividly portrays some of the common struggles of racially mixed couples who are shunned in many parts of the country. The Mathabanes also share their battles with what they call "the complex requirements and emotions of interracial love." And as parents, they reflect upon the task of instilling in their two children a sense of pride for being the best in both black and white.
According to Mark and Gail Mathabane, "racism is a problem of the heart." Their book celebrates the kind of courage and conscience that is necessary for interracial marriages to survive.