How can it be racism, if the person we are talking about may feel this way, but they still have black friends, and still have respect for black people.
It's not the skin they are afraid of, it's the fear that the child will be ridiculed because they are of mixed race - especially if said child lives in a rural area where many people may divide themselves along race. Also the child may have issues of which race they belong to. Are they white? Are they black? They just don't want the child to grow up having self-esteem issues.
If the child is raised in a larger place such as Little Rock, or even Memphis, the child would find more acceptance in larger cities where multi-racial people are more common place and more accepted.
You're right though, some people do use that excuse to try and hide their racial agenda, but I have multi-racial second cousins that are Maddie's age and they are all playmates. These kids are just as normal as you and I, and I love them.
But it's the fact that we live in an area where interracial relationships and interracial children are still frowned upon. I just don't want these kids going to school and only be called "mulatto" or "oreo" when they go to school, because things like that only degrade the child.