Smiles Vs. Stares

By Robert Benson, Priscilla Johnney Benson

Three years ago Robert Benson, 42, a white meatpacker in Kansas City, married Priscilla Johnney, 46, a black nurse. She has six children from a previous marriage and cares for three handicapped foster children, two white and one black.

"In some churches, you're ignored. They won't sit beside you, especially at a church that is more white. At black churches, they raise eyebrows, but they don't do anything," says Priscilla. "We go to the malls, and people look at us, and some give us a look of approval or disapproval, but it doesn't stop us from holding hands. Sometimes people see us, and they think, 'Oh, nice. He can afford a housekeeper.' When Robert puts his arm around my waist, they're in shock. 'He's having an affair with his housekeeper.' "

"When we go down a road and stop at a light, white people and black people look at us all mad like," says Robert. "I wave at them. When the light changes, I wave them on and say, 'God bless you.' "