Search Results: liking a friend''s ex

Hi, I know this is gonna sound kinda of weird but imagine you were in my shoes and knew him 6 years and thank you guys so much for your help whatever you answer may be. :)

So I've liked my guy best friend for 5 almost 6 years now. (Yeah a long time). A lot of stuff happened between us we stopped talking for awhile because his ex girlfriend didn't like me and then apologized after they broke because he knew what he did was wrong. (This was last year) Me and him were/are friends with benefits have been for 5-6 years. ( I liked him before we were having sex fyi). He had told me repeatedly that he doesn't date/like black girls or find most of attractive ( he's white and I'm black) but yet we still have sex. Me and him have a strong connection and he's aware of it too. We had sex two weeks ago. And last night we were on the phone till 3am talking ( got him sleep deprived so he would talk lol) He told me that he finds me attractive but he wouldn't want to date me because of a "gut" feeling he has. He said that he's not ashamed of me because of my skin color. He said that if we did end up dating he wouldn't want to put a label on it. Basically saying he wouldn't want to ruin our friendship. But I feel like there's more to it. I think he still knows that I still have strong feelings for him. And now he's trying to date another girl who has a boyfriend by the way
I know what I said is not enough insight on to what's going on. But I don't know if I should keep trying and wait for a miracle (even though they don't happen everyday) or give up and possibly end our friendship in the process.
I don't really know why I stayed liking him for so long. I have had a boyfriend through our friendship but I still had feelings for him.

Sorry it's so long but please answer I would deeply appreciate it :)

From liking a pic on Instagram to still being friends with your ex in Facebook.
What was it? How did you solve it?
How common is this? I see a lot of questions relating to Instagram on here haha

So, there is this guy I have a crush on, and he has been showing signs of interest (Ex. compliments, helping me with tasks, teasing, hanging out, etc.) . He will start dating soon, (he hasn't had a girlfriend before) and I was wondering if there is a chance he would choose this other girl over me? (If he had to choose between me and her.) I've only known him for 2 years and she has know him since elementary. (We are in high school). But she has dated some of his friends already. (Dated, broke up, hung out, dated, and broke up again.) I heard my crush make fun of her for liking him a few years ago, but they are still friends.