Jennifer Cramblett and her partner Amanda Zinkon purchased two vials of sperm from an Illinois sperm bank under the impression that the donor had “similar genetic traits” to theirs, that is,  a white man.

Mistakenly, the sperm bank artificially inseminated Cremblett with sperm from donor No. 330, a black donor, instead of No. 380, which resulted in her giving birth to a biracial child. Subsequently, Cramblett filed a $50,000 lawsuit against the sperm bank, citing “pain, suffering and emotional distress,” among other things, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

The couple lives in Uniontown, Ohio, a city that is 98.1 percent white. While the couple insists they love their child, they also said they wanted a white baby because they live in a primarily white, conservative, racist environment.

No matter how much they claim they love their child, putting so much emphasis on the skin color of their daughter is essentially telling her that it is not okay for her to be who she is because of what other people will think and say. 

As a lesbian couple, Cramblett and Zinkon should be used to facing adversity and encountering insensitivity in their daily lives. Meanwhile in the 21st century, two people who are fighting for their own civil rights are amplifying an issue that seems like it should have existed 50 years ago,
not now.

Although the civil rights movement has come a long way since the 1960s, a national survey released by the Episcopal Church found 98 percent of Americans feel that racial discrimination is present in the U.S. today, and black respondents were three times more likely than white and Hispanic respondents to report feeling a great deal of discrimination.

The lawsuit against the sperm bank was filed in the midst of rising racial conflict occurring across the nation in instances like the Ferguson riots, the Trayvon Martin case, and recently, Jamal Jones, who was dragged out of a vehicle and shocked with a stun gun after refusing to exit the vehicle during a traffic stop.

For a minority couple to not only be so closed minded about having a biracial child, but to file a lawsuit and claim emotional distress because of the subconscious racism of their family and friends does nothing more than propagate hatred and promote injustice in their marginalized environment.