Interracial Intimacy: The Regulation of Race and Romance Essay

Richard and Mildred Loving, a biracial couple, changed millions of lives in 1976 when they triumphed in the federal case, “Loving vs. Virginia” at the Supreme Court. Their case ended the anti-miscegenation laws created in the 1930s which outlawed interracial marriages. Nearly fifty years later, the U.S Census shows that there were 2.3 million interracial marriages in 2007 which is seven times the number calculated in 1970. This figure, many would say, is a sign of hope for a society has become more accepting and less racist. But how realistic is that idea? Many minorities still face racism and constant oppression every day of their lives. As our culture is constantly forming and changing, there emerge issues with how we understand race and ethnicity. While the concept of race is simply a social construct, with no real science behind it, its societal repercussions are entirely real due to the challenges that comes with it. This system of classification has progressed through centuries and led to the social, economic, and political prejudice against people of color, and further, has institutionalized racism to and systematized the oppression of these people.

More subtly, interracial marriages are increasingly recognized as epitomizing what our society values most in a marriage: the tri- umph of true love over convenience and prudence. Nor is it surprising that white-Asian marriages outnumber black-white marriages: the social distance between whites and Asians is now far smaller than the distance between blacks and whites. What's fascinating, however, is that in recent years a startling number of nonwhites -- especially Asian men and black women -- have become bitterly opposed to intermarriage. This is a painful topic to explore honestly, so nobody does. Still, it's important because interracial marriages are a leading indicator of what life will be like in the even more diverse and integrated twenty-first century.

Although there were laws formed to “help” blacks from such hardships, these laws really put in power the sacred protection of white supremacy and the keeping of blacks’ oppressed but being of mixed race came with some better opportunities, but for others it was a battle.

Over the years in America’s history there has been an increase in interracial relationship statistics. Passed research gives many reason for this increase but also gives reason for why the increase is at such a small percentage. In addition to that passed research studies individual’s views on the topics, which in turn assesses society’s perception on interracial dating and racial identity. Some studies such as Childs with Black women ignored the reasons for the perceived behavior of Black women compared to White women. In the current study the following questions will be explored: How does political conservatism influence individuals viewpoint on interracial relationships versus intraracial relationships? Does racial identity or an individual’s perception of another race correlate with their perception of interracial dating? Do interracial relationships cause unnecessary or more conflict than would be caused in an intraracial relationship? I hypothesize that political conservatism will negatively influence an individual’s viewpoint on interracial relationships versus intraracial relationships. I hypothesize that there is a correlation between racial identity and an individual’s perception of another race. I also hypothesize that interracial relationships do cause more conflict than intraracial

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.

Marriages between African Americans and whites were prohibited by sixteen states, including Virginia, until the revolutionary United States supreme court case of Loving v. Virginia. Gunnar Myrdal illustrates in his essay, “Social Equality,” how society, specifically white men, felt about white women being romantically involved with black men. Ralph Ellison in his short story “Battle Royal,” gives an example of how African American men felt around white women before intermarriage was permissible. Before the case of Loving v. Virginia, various influential African Americans were in intermarriages. Today, miscegenation and/or interracial marriages are not only tolerable, but accepted by most United States citizens.

A significant milestone in my psychological history is the absence of my biological father growing up. While my mother was pregnant with me and for a little time after giving birth, my parents were together but because of my father’s addictions and mental health issues they separated. At the age of three my mother remarried a white man and my siblings and I were now being raised in an interracial household. This change in my upbringing and surroundings had a profound effect on my identity because I was no longer being raised in a traditional home environment. Also, the significance of being raised by someone of a different race impacted how I viewed myself, interracial dating and the world.

Many interracial couples are faced with negative reactions from society, making it hard for them to have a regular relationship. They have to deal with disapproval from their own race, pessimistic reactions from family and friends, and not to mention the ignorance of society as a whole. Why is interracial dating so controversial? Is not racism a thing of the past, or is that what we would like to believe?

To be or not to be? Once again this is the question. In the past, social scientist and society in general, categorized people involved in interracial romances as disturbed, or they labeled these relationships as acts of rebellion, or attempts to move up on the social ladder (Majete 2000, 1). Today this no longer seems to be the case. However, this can still be quite controversial. Part of the reason for this controversy begins with the fact that there were laws barring intermarriage between persons of color and whites in forty of our fifty states until 1967, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that these laws were unconstitutional. Once this law was lifted the number on

When pinpointing the peak of interracial sexual contact, it is assumed that it was during the early colonial period when white indentured servants and black slaves were close in contact. As Edmund S. Morgan notes, “It was common, for example, for servants and slaves to run away together, steal hogs together, get drunk together. It was not uncommon for them to make love together” (Gullickson). With the level of black and white relationships on the rise, white elites created antimiscegenation statutes to define the boundaries between servants and slaves as a way of preventing children of interracial unions from banding together and rebelling in the future. The eventual decline in white servanthood increased black and white segregation. But despite the will to separate white from black, interracial contact, both on the plantation and off, continued (Gullickson). In the boundaries of the plantation, the vicious act of rape was committed between black female slaves and white slaveowners. Many of the advances made by white overseers were hardly ever accepted on the part of the female.

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.

Interracial marriage has been a social issue for a long time but is not talked about as much as other issues. In the journal of social issues, the topic interracial marriage is talked about in the United States of America. The editors use five objectives: discuss the concerns, examine the process, review the attitudes of people towards the interracial couple, assess the “clinical and policy implication”, and synthesize “contemporary scholarship”. The introduction begins with stating that interracial marriage has been increasing in the United States. Interracial marriage has been increasing since the court case Loving v. Virginia in 1967 and The Nature of Prejudice in 1954-1979 allowed couples the “right to marry” anyone they want, regardless of race, or ethnicity (Gaines, Clark, & Afful, 2015). Even though the laws have been passed for interracial marriage, but the couple that gets married outside of their race experience racism; job discrimination, residential segregation, and hate speech and the racism are likely to continue (p. 648 & 650). The journal of social issues has been gathering research for past three years on interracial marriages. It clearly defines the definitions of race and ethnicity. “Race as individuals’ presumed biological heritage”. “Ethnicity as individuals’ presumed biological and/or cultural heritage (Gaines, Clark, & Afful, 2015, p. 649). Providing the definition give a clear image of how the words are used in the journal.

The law forbidding interracial marriage was terminated in 1967, and in the midst of rapid racial change, one fact is unmistakable: A growing number of Americans are showing that we all can get along by forming relationships and families that cross all color lines. In the past couple decades, the number of interracial marriages has increased dramatically. Interracial dating and marrying is described as the dating or marrying of two people of different races, and it is becoming much more common to do so. Thirty years ago, only one in every 100 children born in the United States was of mixed race. Today, the number is one in 19. In some states, such as California and Washington, the number is closer to one in 10 (Melting Pot).

Peggy Pascoe’s “What comes naturally” discusses the miscegenation laws as they relate to white supremacy in post slavery America. Slavery in the United States existed alongside and reinforced ideas about racial hierarchy and the dichotomy between people of color and whites. Most of these arbitrary differences that supposedly exemplified black inferiority were formed to as a means to justify the treatment of people of color. Although slaves weren’t

All throughout the United States it has become a more common occurrence to see an interracial married couple, which supports the idea that race and religion no longer matters in a marriage. This increase of acceptance