Yeah, I hear you on that one. I'm from a pretty southern type town where that type of thing is frowned upon by most of the local rednecks. I've made it a point to date mostly out of state girls as they tended to have a bit more to offer than the freakin' inbred bitches we have around here. As a result, most of them didn't share the mentality that dating black (or any other ethnicity for that matter) guys was a bad thing. Most of my "friends", once they found out about a gf of mine dating other races in their past, would say things like, "He's dating a fuckin' n!gg** lover!"
Racist peices of shit. You know what I think, though? Most of us white folks have heard that MYTH about black guys....yeah, you know the one. Most likely, these redneck white trash acquaintances of mine had heard the same thing and were intimidated. Just my take on it.
Tell your coworkers to grow up and join the 21st century, man. OR, share some of their racial intolerance with some of your black friends or even your HR manager....that should get their attention