That's very true, and Austin is all three in one. We've never felt out of place here, while we have felt stared-at in other places.
I found this comment from the article to be especially true:
compatibility, not color, is what's ultimately important in her relationship.
Despite the fact that my wife grew up black in San Antonio and I grew up white in Northern Michigan, we both came from working/lower-middle class families. The differences between us were much fewer than the attitudes and beliefs we have in common.
My girlfriend of that era and I probably got a few second glances, as we spent quite a lot of time together (our whole relationship was based on a ton of shared interests, values, moral and religious convictions, etc. rather than being just a physical-attraction trip, and we simply had a lot of fun just hanging out with each other).
Even so, the only even mild "incident" I recall was when we went to the grocery store together one day and a couple of black football-player types basically tried to pick up on my girlfriend (who was quite attractive btw). I guess when they only saw a white guy there they thought she was all alone :-) ... anyway, when they realized I was her boyfriend, they were quite apologetic, lol.
After a while we went separate ways and both ended up marrying spouses racially similar to ourselves. However, I think my frequent presence at her parents' house (she had a great, close-knit family btw) paved the way for one of her little sisters, who married a white guy. Last I heard, those two were doing great...
I didn't notice ... I was preoccupied with a certain lumberjack ...
But, seriously, I don't notice most stares. I do find, though, that if we go to a restaurant twice, the wait staff remembers us the third time! And I can only remember once when black people expressed any disdain, and I turned my nose back up at them. I'm too old for that silliness.