Interracial Couples Among Interpersonal Styles

One’s colour, religion and families origin should not interfere with the happiness between the couple. A publication by the University of Toronto Scarborough furthers this notion of love and relationships; yet explains there are many barriers and challenges which many interracial couples strive to overcome.

I found my situation very thought-provoking that my family fell within the “51%” of African American kids that were raised by a single mother. Additionally, it was even more interesting that I fell within the “390,000” of black American male that is in an interracial relationship. Furthermore, Black Demographics (n.d.) states that “while black men marry white women at twice the rate of Black women, only 7% of married Black men had White (non-Hispanic) spouses in 2014. About 14% percent of African American men married non-Black or Hispanic women in 2014. It is Asian women who have the highest rates of intermarriage which is twice that of Black men”. As a result, the interracial relationship between black and white Americans has held strong.

step toward eliminating racial hatred. Yvette Walker believes that in interracial relationships the children are raised in a climate of tolerance. They will no longer matter, where color should not matter when it comes to love. In the famous words of Martin Luther King Jr. "people should not be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (Bryan J Grapes 3).

Interracial families are becoming more and more prevalent in the United States. While parenting a biracial child may have its positives and negatives, a constant is the subject of “race” will be brought up in their family. Biracial children and their parents may face many challenges along the way with self-identity which may impose a factor in the way the function as a family unit. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), interracial families grew to over 2.9 million from 1.7 million in 2000. Over a 30 year period this number has tripled. As a result, the number of mixed-race children grew at a rate 26 times faster than any other group in the U.S. (Lee &

It has long been said that only people of the same race should be allowed to date, marry, and reproduce. Although everyone has their own opinion on the subject, there is honestly no right, or wrong. In today’s day and age the relationships held by people of different races are better accepted than they were in earlier ages when people lived strictly by morals. Interracial relationships have always been frowned upon for religious or moral reasons, but they should be treated with the same respect as a relationship between the same races.

In today’s society the high influx of interracial marriages between Black and White individuals has resulted in the biracial population increasing significantly over the past 30 years (Roth, 2005). According to the 2010 census, the number of American children that categorize themselves as biracial has increased to 4.2 million, making it the quickest emergent youth group in the United States (Census, 2010). This has led to interest in the biracial population; recent literature has shown that amongst many studies, “individuals perceive the relationship between their mixed parentage and their self identity differently” (Rockquemore & Brunsma, 2002). This is significant in the area of child development and family studies because self-identity

I feel as though a person has the right to marry whoever they choose. Without caring about

Previous studies had explored the effects which interracial relationships have on prejudice, racial attitude, and cultural awareness but there hadn’t yet been any research done which looked that what factors increase or decrease the chances of such relationships forming. By looking at different situational factors, and outcomes one can assume that there are some factors that may cause interracial relationships to become more common. The fact that interracial friendships have been shown to foster a more positive attitudes as well as a higher level of cultural awareness, can help us understand the importance of finding more successful ways to encourage interracial mixing. By looking at how threat cues impact the implications and outcomes of already present safety cues, one can see how the first part of this study, referred to as study 1, can create environments where people, specifically the minority, feel safe and encouraged to form interracial relationships.

The author has given the term of “interracial relationship specifically to relationships between people of different social and/or historical backgrounds that may have different physical characteristics” (Docan, 2003). The author stated all relationships are built on principles which include proximity, similarity, physical attraction and complementarity. Being an interracial relationship the term similarity is much harder to achieve. This similarity principle suggest that people may be attracted to others who are different from them, which creates a sense of balance in the relationship and later on as the relationship progresses some similarities will begin to show. He suggests that interracial relationship does not differ much from same race

Besides, the trend of interracial marriages is supposed to change the social norm. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, there was 12 percent increase in interracial marriage in 2013. Many recent surveys also show the growing acceptance among the public. Interestingly, one of the most relevant work in Hollywood recently is Loving, a historical-drama movie. It portrays a true story of an interracial couple, who by fighting for the right to live together won the Supreme Court in 1967. This movie is a good sign that there were and are people who dedicate in creating a better society. It is also a reminder that we can take an advantage of media to educate people about races and racism.

Having support from family and friends is indeed important when it comes to a relationship. Having little to no support from family and friends could adversely influence the contentment of being in a relationship (Pierce, 2014). Relatives are prone to be prejudiced against individuals that are involved in interracial relationships. It is proven that most of the individuals would rather date or even marry someone of the same racial group. It is evident that parental objection is one the most protruding challenge when it comes to engaging and maintaining interracial relationships. Furthermore, studies have shown that individuals who are involved in interracial relationships gain lesser support from families as compared to intraracial couples.

Interracial couples as well as same sex couples face many of the same controversial problems and dilemmas, however, not many differences could be seen between the values of these couples regardless of their generations. The two different groups of individuals being interviewed were a selected group of interracial couples of an older age group ranging from 60 – 33, and a group of same sex couples the ages of 25 – 19. The relationship that was being studied was the relationship values between individuals in interracial relationships in previous generations versus the values of individuals in same sex relationships in our current generation. My hypothesis was that interracial couples as well as same sex couples face many of the same

The issue of racism and relationships in the United States has been rooted back in the country’s history. According to Roberts, by the time of the March on Washington in 1963, nineteen states in the U.S. had laws that did not allow men and women of different races to get married (2). The laws that did not allow interracial marriage would not be abolished, until four years after the March on Washington. In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Loving v Virginia.

are even more of a special case in the racist's mind than just an African American

With an emerging generation of individuals more versed in racial acceptance and tolerance, the rate of interracial marriages has increased over the years. Reading the article about the church banning interracial marriage reminds me of the struggle Richard and Mildred Loving had to go through. Richard and Mildred were given an option to either serve one year in jail or to be exiled from the state of Virginia for 25 years. The Loving v Virginia (1967) case declared that laws banning interracial marriages were unconstitutional (Loving v. Virginia ). In the article, it is mentioned that the church banned interracial marriages; however, Melvin Thompson, a member at this church, claims that this ban is not a result of racism. This member claims this and denies any form of prejudice, but never gives a concrete explanation. If we have implemented laws to prevent racial injustice, why do some people still have issues with it today? In my opinion, we are all equal, should be able to love who we choose, and there should be no laws telling us otherwise. If every individual has a membership and belongs to a group, interracial couples challenge the very foundation and workings of society. Children of multiple races do not fit a standard role and must develop their own script to fit into society. It is very possible that the members of this small church in Kentucky and the people of the state of Virginia felt threatened by this changing form of membership and, therefore, responded with