I think it's not just preference but availability. Sounds an odd thing to say but I live in a small farming community. There is one black family, 2 chinese exchange students and a family from Hawaii. As far as I know thats it. No matter how liberal minded I may raise my daughters they won't be able to date outside of thier race while living at home. They both plan on going away to college, so they may there.

When I was in high school/college, my family lived in a larger city. There were many different races in my school. In the group I hung out with there was a black boy I had the biggest crush on. He was sooo good looking, funny, smart, on the football team, just all around nice. We always seemed to pair up together when ever the gang went anywhere. Never really dated, although I wanted to. Once he kissed me and I remember that kiss to this day, he had the softest lips! But his friend told me that he only fooled around with white girls, when it came time to get serious, he'd be looking to marry a black girl. Not that I wanted to marry the guy but I lost interest soon after I heard that. Bigotry goes both ways.