Family Complexities in Interracial Marriages Essay

Traditionally, people have believed that when a person marries outside of their race, they do so as a way to escape from their race, culture, or traditional beliefs. In contrast, popular culture theorizes that interracial marriages are motivated not by a desire to leave behind one’s heritage, but by love between two people who happen to be of different races. In this paper, I seek to analyze and compare these two perspectives, proposing a theory that combines the two by accounting for a person’s upbringing and beliefs when deciding what their motivation may be. I first analyze the traditional belief of interracial marriage in comparison to the popular culture belief and present my theory combining the two. I then analyze the effect of dominant versus nondominant culture on motivations, and use examples from popular culture to look at the effect a person’s culture and upbringing can have their motivations for marriage. Lastly, I explain how my perspective will affect the way I live my life.

Historically, interracial families’ were a taboo in the United States and many other countries. In the 1960’s, the civil rights movement caused the country to move

A week ago I found myself reading Patricia Hill Collins, “It’s All In the Family: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Nation” and it made me reflect on the ways in which both gender and race are socially built out of distorted interpretations of family. Collectively constructed as opposed to an innate understanding. We have grown dependent on dysfunctional projections of family, giving rise to a hierarchy which aims to serve all: “…a male headship that privileges and naturalizes masculinity as a source of authority…mothers comply with fathers, sisters defer to brothers, all with the understanding that boys submit to maternal authority until they become men.” (Collins 159) The commitment towards this flawed assemblage of characterizations, has in a way, normalized the social hierarchy. However, this expectation has become unrealistic. Many females find that they are not adequately prepared to survive in a male dominated country, although there is little rebellion against these imposed values.

When compiling my research, many articles were found that spoke about the documentary because of its similarities to the fight and struggles of same sex marriage happening today. There were also many articles with data accompanying it, showing how interracial marriages have grown and its acceptance. According to an article in Yahoo News in 2012, interracial marriages in the U.S climbed to a new high, 4.8 million – a record 1 in 12 marriages (8.3% nationwide). The percentage has grown almost twenty times since its legalization in all 50 states. A Pew Forum survey data also found that a record number approved of interracial marriage, however 14 percent of people still don 't. For example, a poll taken in 2011, almost half of the registered Republican Mississippi voters said they thought interracial marriage should be illegal, and it was pointed out that, “nearly all the States that have laws against mixed marriage are in the South – where Whites are considered not likely to marry Blacks in large numbers, even though it is now permitted

Until quite recently, the traditional view of family that has predominated society has been comprised of gender roles. The “ideal” family in the past has consisted of a white, middle-class, heterosexual couple with about 2.5 children. In this heteronormative nuclear family, the father is the head of the household and the breadwinner of the family, while the mother is the one who cares for the children and completes household duties. Of course, most families do not fit into this mould and those who do not fit have been repeatedly marginalized due to their differences. It is no question that race, class, sexuality, ability, and many other identity markers intersect in how forms of family may vary. As explained by the concept of intersectionality, gender must be analyzed through a lens that includes various identity markers which contribute to how an individual experiences oppression. It is through the use of intersectionality, the discussion of patriarchy, and the deconstruction of “family” that bell hooks (1990) and Michelle K. Owen (2001) paint family as a site of belonging and contestation.

The concept of family is one of many universal priorities amongst all Africans in all regions. Family is something that African families genuinely value and is considered the foundation for their standing in society. No matter how old you are, you are not considered an adult until you have had children. African parents do not feel complete until they become grandparents. And even if you are married you are not considered to have a family until you have children. African families have very strong foundations because they cherish their families, and are all very close knit. It is considered to be very common and normal to live in a household with both of your grandparents and sometimes even aunts and uncles.

There is a shift towards a new contemporary marriage. This shift includes an increase in cohabiting. The film Our Family Wedding illustrates this trend; Marcus and Lucia have been living with each other prior to their marriage and having sex. The increase in cohabitation is very large and almost half of those who choose to cohabitate eventually marry (Amato et al., 2007). Another recent change towards contemporary marriage is interracial or intermarriage. This trend is blatantly illustrated in the film because the bride is Latina and the groom is African American. The book mentions that this shift toward intermarriage is especially high for newlyweds, which helps cement the ideas of the director. Also, younger and better-educated Americans are more likely to engage in interracial marriage (Lee and Edmonston, 2005:7; Wang 2012). The director, who wrote Lucia and Marcus’ characters as individuals who had finished their undergraduate degree and in the process of obtaining their

This book stretches out to a lot of questions and ideas to most readers. Does marriage only work out for white people? Are marriages of other races not

There is a myth that the institution of family operates independently from other institutions. This book and the characters within it show historical relevance to prove that families do not always single handily operate without help from other intuitions. Some of the characters that contradict such idea are Lilly, Zack, August, and Rosaleen. Beginning with Lilly, never relied on her father for emotional support, which should be a characteristic that a family should have. Lilly, relied on Rosaleen. Rosaleen could be consider as part of a caregiver institution that provided the comfort and sentiment she needed. When it comes to Zack he had his own family, yet he relied on the Boatwright sisters for many things. His parents were not the only institution

Fools Rush In is a romantic comedy dealing with interpersonal communication between Isabel and Alex. When these two first met each other it was at a restaurant. From the beginning, there were obvious signs of flirting. As the night went on, Isabel ended up going to Alex’s home. Waking up in his arms, she quickly scrambled her things and left only to return three months later to tell Alex she is pregnant with his baby. This movie is a perfect example of a relationship between two people. In a relationship there is a time where the two discloses information about one another, have mixed emotions, and other interpersonal concepts. Fools Rush In has many examples of first impressions, self-concepts, conflict, identity needs, stages of

A reason that the film justified the better acceptance of intermarriages has to do with at the heart of Latin America is based off of Catholicism beliefs that though was not completely accepting of other religions was more

Kevin Rodney Sullivan's 2005 movie is an overt comedy that, while not ignoring the race issues altogether, uses them more frequently for humor than to illustrate serious points. Both film’s premises are about the same situation of an interracial marriage.

The majority of family on either side are heterosexual. I do have a niece who we think is a lesbian, however her dad has never said anything and I am not around her enough for that type of conversation to ever come up. I have learned from this project that this is a conversation that I have very little with my family. Last semester when we were talking about sexual identity I would talk with my parents about what I learned and mom was more comfortable with the topic than my dad was. He is pretty open-minded compared to those in his same generation, just every once in a while I can see biases come out of woodwork that he got from his parents.

The film lookes at the prejudices between the families but did not touch on how interacial couples also have deal with societies biases against them. Being a interacial couple may come along with its shares of difficulties, diffrences between the indiviuals, famial prejudice, and societies prejudice.

The two articles used were “Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States through Differential Assimilation” (Lewis, Ford- Robinson, 2010) and “Marital Dissolution among Interracial Couples” (Zhang, Van Hook, 2009). The first article “Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States through Differential Assimilation”, spoke about the unprecedented changes that our society is going though in the 21st century.